Dueling with the Wind
by The Forth Man
Summary: Sakura, a young duelist with a passion to become a great duelist. Shin, a stranger who's shrouded in mystery. The two find themselves caught between a battle of pharaohs. Plenty of duels including characters from TV series.
1. Introductions

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh nor do I own the card game.  
  
Chapter 1: Introductions  
  
"Luck." Sakura Kazekage sighed. "That's the only reason I won. Pure stupid luck."  
  
Sakura Kazekage headed for the outdoor café, quite tired after her last duel. The dark-haired 16-year-old girl looked back on the duel that she won mere moments ago. She remembered the mistakes she made, all rookie mistakes as she only started dueling two weeks ago. Mistakes like her forgetting to set off the Magic Jammer trap card that she placed face down just two turns before her opponent activated his Tribute to the Doom magic card, destroying her Dark Magician Girl and scoring a direct attack, nearly ending the duel in his favor.  
  
-----FLASHBACK-----  
  
"I now attack your life points directly with my rarest monster: Zoa!" the boy hissed. A holographic image of the dark beast, Zoa, slashed Sakura as her life points dropped to 300. The duel was not going her way as she had no monsters on the field whereas her opponent had his most powerful monster out and still had 2100 life points.  
  
She looked at her duel disk and slapped her forehead in frustration. The Magic Jammer! She had forgotten that she even had it on the field! Dark Magician Girl was her favorite card and she lost it to the graveyard due to a careless rookie mistake.  
  
"Arrrgh!" Sakura shouted as she drew her next card. "I lost." She said to herself. "I could have won if I had just remembered to flip my trap card." She impartially looked at the card that she just drew, assured that she had no chance in winning. Suddenly, her eyes widened at the card in her hand.  
  
Change of Heart.  
  
"This duel is over!" Sakura shouted as she activated her trump card  
  
-----END OF FLASHBACK-----  
  
Sakura looked at the newest addition to her dueling deck. Zoa, a highly powerful dark monster that has the potential to change into an even more powerful machine monster. "I don't deserve this card." She whispered. "I didn't deserve to win. Kazeyama-sensei always said that the most important thing about dueling is honor." She thought of her sensei, the father she never had. The old man that often looked after her when she was dismissed from school. The man that taught her everything about dueling, from the rules and starters to the strategies and counter-strategies.  
  
"How could I face Kazeyama-sensei now knowing that I can only win through flukes and luck?" she asked herself. "Sensei always told me that a duelist should always keep his or her mind on what is happening on the field. I just disrespected that by forgetting to play Magic Jammer."  
  
After staring at her card, Sakura decided she needed a break. Her mind was weary after dueling, she would need to rest as soon as possible. Walking to the nearest outdoor café table, she noticed a man sitting while reading a novel.  
  
"Excuse me, can I sit here?" Sakura kindly requested. The man didn't even look up, much less give her a response.  
  
"Sir?" she asked again, slightly louder this time. Again there was no reply. Growing frustrated and annoyed, Sakura fought to suppress her anger at the man. She was much too tired to teach him some manners with her fists anyways.  
  
Nevertheless, she took the seat across from the man, hoping that he wouldn't mind. Actually, she secretly hoped that he would mind, just so she could annoy him for being rude. The stranger gave no hint that he even noticed her. Sakura glanced at the man. He was wearing a black trench coat that was buttoned at the top. The coat extended above his mouth, right under the roof of his nose, covering half his face. His expression was masked by his coat, his eyes focused only on the novel he was reading. Above his head was long black spiked hair, waved towards the back of his head. Below he wore a small beard that covered only from his chin to his ears while not crossing above the mouth. Any hint of impassiveness would be hard to detect. Then Sakura noticed something else about the strange man. He had a dueling disk hooked onto his belt right next to a box holding a deck.  
  
"Are you a duelist, mister?" Sakura asked, now desperate to get some sort of response from the man. Again, no such luck, which really annoyed her. "Damn it you can at least give me the decency of a reply, jackass!" She shouted a little too loudly. People in the café started to stare at her. Sakura duck her head down, a bit embarrassed at her own outburst.  
  
After calming down and ordering a cup of tea, Sakura reviewed her dueling strategy. Her rarest card was the Dark Magician Girl, a monster that was not very strong on its own, but her deck backed up her prize monster with plenty of Dark Magicians and Magician of the Black Chaos's. Along with many magic and trap cards to strengthen her monsters, her cards formed an all-out offensive deck that proved to be a challenge to duel. The deck was not the problem, nor was the strategy. Sakura knew that she as a duelist was the problem.  
  
Sakura was not a bad strategist. Her sensei saw great potential in her mind's ability. But when she was in battle, she tended choke often. Her focus was frequently divided, allowing her to make bad decisions during the heat of duels.  
  
"I just need to focus." She said out loud to herself. "Focus on the duel, and remember everything the sensei taught me." Realizing that she was talking to herself, Sakura grew self conscious. "Sorry if I'm bothering you, mister. I tend to rant, even when no one is listening." Again the stranger gave no hint of reply. "Do you even have a name?" she asked, trying once again to get a response from the man.  
  
"Shin!" A voice sneered from the entrance to the café. It came from a short turquoise color haired boy with large round glasses who was pointing at the stranger across from Sakura. "There you are. I demand a rematch! No one steps on Weevil Underwood and gets away with it!"  
  
"Weevil Underwood?" Sakura said to herself. "I've heard of him before. He's a high level ranked duelist who's only been beaten by a few people including the champion, Yugi Moto."  
  
"Well?" Weevil sneered as he approached the man. "Do you accept my challenge?"  
  
"I'll duel you!" Sakura interrupted as she stood up, heated and ready to duel.  
  
"Stay out of it, missy!" Weevil hissed. "My quarrel is with him, not you."  
  
"Missy?" Sakura screamed, nearly exploding. Her hands clenched into fists. "You want to repeat that to my knuckles?"  
  
"Heh, a feisty fly aren't you?" Weevil snickered. "Alright, I'll duel you." His attention turned towards the stranger. "Listen, Shin. After I squash her, you're next!"  
  
"Hey, flea brain." Sakura yelled. "Standard rules sound good?" Standard rules meant that the duel was to be played with 8000 life points, sacrificing rules, and card restrictions, very similar to the rules that were used in the Kaiba Battle City Tournament that took place a year ago. That includes the rule that the losing duelist would have to forfeit their rarest card to the winner.  
  
"Standard rules it is." Weevil agreed. "That means it'll give me a chance to improve my deck even further before I duel Shin. You'll regret challenging Weevil Underwood."  
  
"Enough talk." Sakura said as her duel disk activated and set her life points at 8000. Holographic projectors shot out across the floor. "It's time to duel!" 


	2. The Flower and the Spider

Disclaimer: Look at Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 2: The Flower and the Spider  
  
"It's time to duel!" Sakura shouted as she drew her five cards. "Ladies first, I hope you don't mind."  
  
"It's fine with me." Weevil sneered. "Make your pathetic move so I can squash you already."  
  
Sakura: 8000  
  
Weevil: 8000  
  
Sakura drew her first card, the Dark Elf (2000/800). "I'll play the Dark Elf in attack mode and end my turn." The purple-haired monster who held a uncanny resemblance to the Mystical Elf appeared before Sakura.  
  
"Heh, my turn now." Weevil said as he played his first monster. "Meet Jurai Gumo (2200/100) in attack mode!" A giant orange spider formed from the holographic projectors. "Attacking with Jurai Gumo risks cutting my life points in half." Weevil explained. "So I won't attack… yet. I'll end my turn by placing a card face down on my magic/trap slot."  
  
Sakura drew. It was her prize monster, the Dark Magician Girl. "Lucky!" She whispered to herself. "But I'll need some help powering it up first. I play the monster, Sonic Bird (1400/1000). Summoning it allows me to draw a ritual card, which I play now! Ritual of Black Chaos, sacrifice my Sonic Bird and Dark Elf to summon Magician of Black Chaos (2800/2600)!" The holographic projectors revealed an image of the ritual with smoking pots and all.  
  
"You activated my trap card!" Weevil snickered. "Of course a dimwit like you would make such fatal mistakes. Activate, Magic Jammer!"  
  
Suddenly the mists and pots disappeared and Sakura's two previous monsters remained on the field. Sakura gritted her teeth; she hated the fact that her deck had almost no counters against trap cards. "Fine!" She shouted. "Then I'll play graceful charity." She drew three new cards and discarded two of her own, including the now useless Magician of Black Chaos. "And that ends my turn."  
  
"Damn it!" Sakura swore at herself. "I dishonored Kazeyama-sensei again! I should have known he would have a trap card ready for me, but I was too rushed to get my powerful monsters out. I'm so careless."  
  
"Hah!" Weevil scoffed. "My turn, and I'll start it by playing the magic card, Insect Armor with Fire Power on my Jurai Gumo to raise it's attack power (2900/100). And I'll also summon a monster face down in defense mode. That ends my turn."  
  
"Booring." Sakura sighed as she drew her next card. "No one's even attacked yet, so let me break the ice. I'll sacrifice both my monsters on the field to summon my Dark Magician! Attack his face down monster! Dark magic attack!" The holographic image of the Dark Magician raised his staff and let out a stream of darkness over Weevil's face down monster, which shattered immediately.  
  
"I knew you would attack!" Weevil snickered. "Destroy him, Man-Eater Bug!" A disgusting bug hologram latched itself onto the Dark Magician and exploded, taking both of them out.  
  
"Damn it." Sakura whispered. "Make your move, Weevil."  
  
"Hah. I'll draw, and then play the magic card, Laser Cannon Armor, on my Jurai Gumo (3200/400)." The large monster no longer looked like a slimy spider anymore with all the equipments on it. Instead it looked more like a giant robot with metal claws and cannons. "I'll also play one card face down on my magic/trap card slot." Weevil continued. "Now, attack her life points directly!"  
  
The large bug struck Sakura with both cannons attached to it, creating a large flash of light, followed by an explosion. Sakura looked at her life points count, which dropped a tremendous amount. But then, she glanced at Weevil's life points only to see that it had taken an even bigger plunge.  
  
Sakura: 4800  
  
Weevil: 4000  
  
"Stupid move, bug boy." Sakura mocked as she drew her card. "You took an even bigger beating than I did! I'll play this monster face down in defense mode and let you defeat yourself. Your turn."  
  
Weevil drew his next card, a smile then grew on his face. "My combo is nearly complete. But for this turn, I'll just attack your face down card with Jurai Gumo." Again the two cannons fired and again Weevil's life points halved.  
  
"Big mistake." Sakura shouted. "You've accomplished nothing by destroying my Nimble Momonga, except lowering your own life points and strengthening my own. I also get to summon another Nimble Momonga face down in defense mode too."  
  
Sakura: 5800  
  
Weevil: 2000  
  
"As for my turn, I'll draw." Sakura said. "And I'll play one card face down in my magic/trap slot and end my turn."  
  
"My turn, and I draw." Weevil said. His smile grew even wider as he looked at his newly drawn card. "This is it! My combo is complete! Now you'll see why Jurai Gumo is my most prized monster! I'll play these two magic cards, Metamorph and Fairy Meteor Strike. This raises my Jurai Gumo's attack power to 5400 and allows it to deal direct damage even after attacking a monster in defense mode! Next, I'll also activate my trap card, Metalmorph, to increase its attack power even more (5700/700)! And Metalmorph gives it the special ability to raise its attack points by half of that of the target monster!"  
  
"Crap, this isn't good." Sakura said to herself. "That means Jurai Gumo will attack my Nimble Momonga with an attack power of 6200. With only a defense of 100, the Fairy Meteor Strike card will deal 6100 to my life points! That'll lose me the duel!"  
  
"I've planned this all from the start, missy." Weevil boasted. "Jurai Gumo was supposed to lower my life points so it would catch my opponent off guard and allow Metamorph to take its effect! Now, this duel is over! Destroy her monster, Jurai Gumo, and wipe out the rest of her life points!"  
  
It was about this time that the stranger named Shin turned looked up from his novel and turned his attention towards the duel. He decided to then intervene. 


	3. Sakura Steps Down, Shin Steps Up

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 3: Sakura Steps Down, Shin Steps Up  
  
"Destroy her monster, Jurai Gumo, and wipe out the rest of her life points!" Weevil hissed.  
  
Sakura stood in fear. "What can I do?" She asked herself out loud. "I can't do anything to avoid his attack. Kazeyama-sensei said to always be focused on the field, but even my trap card can't help me now."  
  
"It can."  
  
Sakura turned around to find that she standing aside the stranger that was so rude to her before. The man stood tall under his black cloak-like trench coat. He now wore sunglasses that hid his eyes.  
  
"Activate it, quickly!" The stranger whispered.  
  
"But how could my trap card…" Sakura stammered as she looked at her hand. Her eyes widened. "Ooh." She immediately pressed the button above her trap card.  
  
"Say good-bye to your life points, missy!" Weevil manically laughed.  
  
"Not so fast." Sakura shouted as her trap card revealed. "I activate my trap card: Ultimate Offering! This allows me to pay 500 life points to special summon a monster anytime I want, so I sacrifice my Nimble Momonga to summon the Illusionist Faceless Mage, which will defend me against your attack enough to keep me in this duel!"  
  
Weevil grunted in frustration. "Fine, then I'll destroy your mage with Jurai Gumo. It doesn't really matter because all you've done was delay your defeat for one more turn." The giant spider directed its attack to strike down the newly summoned monster, making a significant dent on Sakura's life points.  
  
Sakura: 1200  
  
Weevil: 1000  
  
"It'll be over soon." Weevil snickered. "So make your last move."  
  
"It'll be over sooner than you think." Sakura shouted as she played the cards that would ensure the duel to her. "I'll play the magic card, The Painful Choice, allowing me to choose five cards from my deck. You decide which one I get to keep while the rest go to the graveyard."  
  
Five holograms appeared in front of Weevil: two Dark Magicians, two Magician of Black Chaos's, and the Thousand Knives magic card.  
  
"I will select the Thousand Knives magic card." Weevil said with a smirk. "It's useless since all your Dark Magicians will be in the graveyard!"  
  
"Excellent." Sakura said, her smile growing bigger. "I'll now summon the monster, Mystical Elf (800/2000) in attack mode. Next, I'll activate Ultimate Offering to sacrifice my Mystical Elf and summon my most powerful monster, the Dark Magician Girl!" The holographic projects shot out the image of a female Dark Magician, who seemed deceptively less threatening than its male counterpart. "For every Dark Magician and Magician of Black Chaos in the graveyard, she gains 300 attack points." Sakura explained. "And thanks to you throwing out all of them to my graveyard, Dark Magician Girl now has an attack power of 3800!"  
  
"Big deal." Weevil scoffed. "Its still a tiny fly compared to my ultra powered spider!"  
  
"That's where you're wrong." Sakura countered. "Remember I activated my Ultimate Offering, so my life points were decreased by 500, making it less than yours. So your magic card, Metamorph, backfires on your own monster."  
  
Weevil looked at his monster's attack points which lowered to a mere 2400. "Impossible! Dark Magician Girl's attack will destroy what's left of my life points!"  
  
"That's right." Sakura grinned. "So it's time to finish this duel. Dark Magician Girl, attack Jurai Gumo!"  
  
The female magician flew towards the giant spider and smashed its staff on its metallic hide, releasing waves of darkness unto its shattered form. As quickly as Jurai Gumo disappeared, Weevil's life points dropped, ending the duel for him.  
  
Sakura: 700  
  
Weevil: 0  
  
"Game over, Weevil." Sakura smirked. "Now hand over your Jurai Gumo and get your sorry bugs out of here!"  
  
"I swear you'll pay for this." Weevil muttered as he hesitantly gave Sakura his Jurai Gumo before running away to find more duelists to cheat.  
  
Sakura smiled proudly. This was one of the only duels that she's won without having to rely on lady luck. But she still had one person to thank for her victory. Sakura turned around to find the stranger that had aided her during the duel. To her distress, he was already walking away on a nearby bridge without having said anything. She quickly ran towards the man, wanting to thank him before the opportunity escapes.  
  
"Thanks a lot, mister." Sakura said when she reached the man. "I couldn't have won without your help."  
  
Unsurprisingly, Shin gave no reply.  
  
"I guess you saw that I was a rookie by the way I dueled, right?" Sakura continued, despite the stranger's silence. She started to walk at the same pace as the trench coated man. "Kazeyama-sensei always said that I have potential, but I don't know when I'll actually show it."  
  
The man didn't even nod.  
  
"I actually don't think that I'll ever become a great duelist." Sakura said as she lowered her head. "Sometimes, I feel like I should just quit. But that would dishonor Kazeyama-sensei, and that would be the last thing I would want to do."  
  
Shin again gave no reply; he only continued to walk across the bridge without even acknowledging the girl's presence.  
  
"But don't get me wrong." Sakura said as she made a cheery face. "I love dueling. So I don't think I'll ever stop. I just wish I was better at it."  
  
"You'll get better at it if you believe in yourself." Said a foreign voice behind Sakura, causing her to turn around. The voice belonged to a short boy with spiky red hair and yellow bangs who was accompanied by many other teenagers.  
  
Sakura easily recognized the boy, as would anyone. "Hey, you're Yugi Moto!" she exclaimed. "You were the champion of Kaiba's Battle City Tournament. I'm Sakura Kazekage. It's a pleasure to meet you."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Yugi said with a smile.  
  
"Hi, I'm Joey Wheeler." The teenager with the blonde hair introduced. "You might have heard of me, I made it all the way to the Battle City semi-finals."  
  
"Vaguely." Said Sakura. Actually, she had never heard of him before, but it never hurt to be polite once in a while.  
  
"That was an impressive duel you've fought back at the café, Sakura." Yugi complimented. "You and your friend must be pretty good to fend off a cheat like Weevil Underwood."  
  
"Friend?" Sakura asked, immediately realizing that Yugi was talking about the mysterious silent stranger. "That guy? I actually don't know him or anything about him, except that his name is Shin. And the fact that he doesn't talk much."  
  
"Is he a duelist too?" Joey asked with a hint of excitement. "I was gettin a bit bored, so me and Yugi went out to find ourselves some good challenges to duel. You think that guy would prove a worthy duelist against the invincible Joey Wheeler?"  
  
Sakura immediately developed a sweat drop on her forehead. This guy was so full of himself, she thought. How the hell did this Wheeler guy make it into the Battle City semi-finals? But nevertheless, Sakura kept her thoughts to herself. "You can ask him, but I don't think you'll have any luck getting a word out of the guy." She said with a shrug. "I mean, I was trying to get him to talk for like the entire time I was at the café and the most I've ever heard him speak was exactly five words."  
  
Completely ignoring what Sakura just said, Joey quickly ran up to the shrouded man hoping for an opportunity to challenge him. "Hey, tough guy. You wanna duel?"  
  
Shin gave no answer to Joey's challenge, which infuriated the blonde haired duelist. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Joey shouted as he reached for the man's shoulder.  
  
His hand never made it to the trench coat. With lightning speed, the man had grabbed Joey's hand and stopped it inches from his shoulder. Before Joey could react, he suddenly found himself being thrown to the ground. Everyone was just as shocked as Joey was at the man's reflexes and flowing movement. The man merely glanced at Joey, and then continued walking away.  
  
Gritting his teeth as he got back up, the enraged Joey Wheeler turned towards the stranger. "Don't walk away from me, you coward!"  
  
As the word "coward" left Joey's mouth, the stranger stopped. Joey saw his reaction and smiled. "So you gonna duel or what, coward?"  
  
Without wasting a moment, the man flung around, his trench coat rising in the air. He quickly strapped his duel disk on as he slid his deck into the cards slot. Joey smiled at the stranger's actions and did the same with his own duel disk and deck. An excited grin stood confidently on his face.  
  
And for the second time that Sakura had witnessed, the stranger spoke in his eerie voice. "I am no coward. Let us duel." 


	4. Shin's Merciless Deck

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 4: Shin's Merciless Deck  
  
"Pretty bold to accept my challenge, tough guy." Joey said as his holographic projectors shot out. "So without further delay, it's time to duel!"  
  
Joey: 8000  
  
Shin: 8000  
  
"You may go first if you'd like." The cloaked man rasped as he drew his hand.  
  
"Then I will." Joey said with a large grin. "I'll start off with my Alligator Sword in attack mode (1500/1200)! That'll be all. Your turn."  
  
Shin silently looked at his hand. "I will place one monster face down in defense mode." A holographic card appeared in front of him. "And I'll also play four cards face down in my magic/trap slots. My turn is over."  
  
"Watch out Joey!" Yugi warned. "He's bound to have some trap cards ready to defend against an attack! Be careful."  
  
"Don't sweat it, Yuge." Joey smirked confidently. "I know what I'm doin'. It's my turn now so I'll sacrifice my Alligator Sword for Jinzo (2400/1500)! His special ability makes all traps totally useless!" Joey's grin widened. "Told ya that I know what I'm doin'. Now attack his monster, go Jinzo!"  
  
The holographic image of Jinzo released its attack wave, destroying the face down monster. However, the face down card then revealed the monster known as the Morphing Jar, activating its effect.  
  
"You've attacked the Morphing Jar, and activated its special ability." Shin informed. "We will each discard our hand and draw a new one."  
  
"Dat's fine with me." Joey said without a bit of nervousness. As he drew his new hand, his confidence rose. "I'll end my turn by playin' a card face down in my magic slots. But watch out, 'cuz next turn I'll show ya why people need to think twice before duelin' me."  
  
Shin made no comment on Joey's boast. "I'll play this monster in attack mode." Shin said as he placed the card onto his duel disk. "Queen's Double (350/300) has the special ability to attack your life points directly." A holographic image of a robed woman with sharp needles clenched in her fist appeared.  
  
"Big deal." Joey scoffed. "That puny thing only got 350 attack points. I'll easily take it out on my next turn."  
  
"I'll now activate the three magic cards that I've laid on the field." Shin continued as the three cards rose. "Sword of the Deep-Seated, Axe of Despair, and Mage Power will increase the Queen's Double's attack power (3850/2800). And I will attack your life points directly." The holographic powered-up woman threw her spine-like needles towards Joey, greatly reducing his life points. "My turn is over."  
  
Joey: 4150  
  
Shin: 8000  
  
Sakura froze. The duel had only begun, and the silent stranger had already halved Joey's life points. The moves seemed to flow eloquently from Shin's deck without waste. Every move was precise.  
  
"Joey, are you alright?!" Yugi asked as his friend nearly fell to the floor after getting attacked.  
  
"It's alright, Yuge." Joey said as he stood back up. "I'll beat this guy." His attention then turned towards his opponent. "All right tough guy, you got lucky that time but now I'm playin' for real. And I'm gonna bust your strategy with these cards!" Joey placed a magic card in his slot. "First I play monster reborn, and bring back my Alligator Sword from the graveyard. Then I'll sacrifice both my monsters that I got on the field for my newest rare monster, the Tri-Horned Dragon (2850/2350)!"  
  
"But Joey." Yugi shouted. "Your dragon doesn't even have enough power to destroy his monster. And he can still do a direct attack against your life points!"  
  
"I know, Yuge." Joey said as he pressed the button above his face down card. "But that's why I can use this magic card on his monster, Block Attack!"  
  
"Block Attack will force the Queen's Double into defense mode." Sakura whispered to herself. "And with a defense of 2800, Joey's dragon will rip through it without a problem!"  
  
"Alright, say good-bye to your monster." Joey shouted as he declared his attack. "Destroy the Queen's Double!" At the sound of Joey's command, the blue horned monster leapt towards Shin's monster with its claws poised for attack.  
  
But the attack never made it to the Queen's Double. "I'll activate my trap card." Shin interrupted. "Negate Attack." With his trap card activated, Joey's monster could not do anything but swipe fruitlessly at the invisible negating wall.  
  
Joey sighed. "That's okay, you still can't attack. So make your move."  
  
"I play the monster, Armed Ninja (300/300), in attack mode." Shin began. A familiar image of the Armed Ninja appeared. "Then I'll play Tailor of the Fickle on your Block Attack magic card, and place it onto my Armed Ninja."  
  
"This is bad." Yugi pointed out. "Now his Queen's Double can attack again."  
  
"I'll switch my Queen's Double to attack mode and play the magic card, Swords of Revealing Light." Shin continued.  
  
"Why play that?" Joey asked. "You don't even need any defense."  
  
"He doesn't need it, but the Swords of Revealing Light will benefit his Mage Power card." Yugi explained. "I'm afraid this duel is over for you, Joey."  
  
"He is correct." Shin whispered. "Queen's Double, attack his life points directly."  
  
"Huh?" Joey looked at the oncoming monster with his puzzled face. But before he knew it, his life points had already dropped to zero and the duel was lost.  
  
Joey: 0  
  
Shin: 8000  
  
"Wow…" Was all Sakura could say. Shin had beaten one of the top ranking duelists in all of Japan without losing a single life point. And what was more was he did it in only three turns. She looked at Joey, who could do nothing but surrender his powerful Tri-Horned Dragon to the shrouded man.  
  
"I can't… believe I lost my rarest card just like dat." Joey stammered with his head ducked down. "Maybe I'm not cut out for duelin' anymore…"  
  
"Don't say that, Joey." Yugi said, hoping to put some faith in his friend. "You lost to an excellent duelist, there's no shame in that."  
  
"But I lost my best card, Yuge." Joey sighed. "I tend to do that a lot don't I?"  
  
"You may win it back." The stranger said as he approached Joey. But there wasn't any sympathy in his voice. Instead, he sounded like he was merely stating a fact. "Tomorrow at night, by the docks. I shall then give you a chance to redeem yourself."  
  
"Really?" Joey said with a hint of hope in his voice. "Alright, I'll accept your challenge. Tomorrow night, by the docks. I'll be there."  
  
"That's the spirit, Joey." Yugi encouraged. "I'll be there to root for you. Hey Shin, you're not so much of a merciless guy after—" But before he could finish his sentence, the stranger was already gone, disappeared without notice. "—all." Yugi finished as he looked around with awe.  
  
"I'll be there too." Sakura declared. "It might do my dueling skills some good to hang with you guys."  
  
"Alright." Joey said. "We'll meet at the warehouse near the docks at 6 o'clock. Then we'll go there together. I gotta go home and prepare my deck for tomorrow."  
  
"I'm okay with that." Sakura agreed. It was good to have new friends. And especially famous ones like Yugi Moto.  
  
"I can do that too." Yugi said. "Sounds like a plan."  
  
----------  
  
Elsewhere.  
  
"Sounds like a plan." The microphone emitted.  
  
"Excellent job, Shin." A dark robed figure commended. "I would not have expected any less from one of my most capable servants. Now that Yugi Moto and his other pharaoh half has been lured to my trap, I'll finally exact my revenge on the ancient pharaoh. And these three cards will ensure my victory."  
  
The dark figure looked at the three powerful monsters held by his hand, the three Egyptian God Cards, stolen from the safe-keepers of the Ishtar family once again.  
  
"Jubei." The dark figure commanded. Another robed man appeared. "Ready your deck for battle. Locate Tamashii and Kaede and tell them to do the same. You three servants shall set out for the warehouses tomorrow night at 6 o'clock. Be sure to give Yugi a surprise he'll never forget."  
  
The servant quickly acknowledged his orders and went off to prepare for the mission.  
  
"And what of me?" Shin asked.  
  
"I require nothing of you for now." The dark figure said. "But you should prepare for battle in case the others fall. The pharaoh has proved to surprise his opponents before, so I assume that my three servants will not prevail. But still, it would provide me with a very thorough test of his deck, so I can prepare my following battles against him."  
  
"Understood, Master." Shin replied. But secretly, he knew something the dark figure did not. He knew that tomorrow night it would not be Yugi Moto who would provide the surprises.  
  
No. The star shining brightest tomorrow shall be the girl.  
  
==========  
  
Backstage Bonus: The Author's Power.  
  
Joey: Yo, Shin.  
  
Shin: ……  
  
Joey: How about a duel, a real one? I can't have you start thinkin' dat you're better than me, can I?  
  
Shin: Very well.  
  
TheForthMan: Hey! I didn't say you guys could duel now. That would mean that I would have to make one up for you guys and I'm too tired to do that right now.  
  
Joey: Come on. We're just gonna have a small duel. It'll be a breeze.  
  
TheForthMan: Fine… but I'm warning you. When I'm too tired to write, I get lazy.  
  
Joey: Yeah, whatever. Come on Shin, it's time to duel.  
  
Joey: 8000  
  
Shin: 8000  
  
Joey: I'll go first. I'll start by playing the—  
  
Shin: I win.  
  
Joey: Wha—? It's not even your turn yet.  
  
Shin: This card says "An automatic victory can be declared by the player whose hand contains this card together with the Left Leg/Right Leg/Left Arm/Right Arm of the Forbidden One."  
  
Shin shows his hand to Joey, which consisted of all the pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One.  
  
Joey: How da—? Hey, you don't even got those cards in your deck.  
  
TheForthMan: He does now.  
  
Joey: You can't mean dat!  
  
TheForthMan: Anything I write is law in this fanfiction, and I wrote that his first draw was Exodia."  
  
Joey (raising his fist at TheForthMan): You cheat! How da hell can you write dis crap? I demand you rewrite this duel at once or I'm gonna sock ya in da nuts.  
  
Suddenly, Joey finds himself without hands. Instead, puny stubs stand where the wrists should be.  
  
Joey: HEY! You can't write dat!  
  
TheForthMan: Why not? I'm the damn author so I can do whatever I want. Like this.  
  
Joey: I'm a little girl that likes to wear pink skirts that go up to my skinny thighs and I like to do the Macarena in front of the mirror cuz I feel so pretty.  
  
TheForthMan: Hahahahahaha!!  
  
Joey: Stop making me say that! What the hell are you typing?!  
  
TheForthMan: Hey, Shin. Do you know what the tune to that West Side Story song?  
  
Joey: Wha—? NOO!  
  
Shin: Do Re Mi So.  
  
Joey: NO! ANYTHING BUT— (starts singing) I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay. And I pity. Any girl who isn't me today… 


	5. Interlude

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 5: Interlude  
  
"Where am I?" Sakura asked. She looked around the strange area that surrounded her. Ancient stones of a bright tan color made the walls and pillars that towered above her. Sakura noticed a large number of robed people running around her on the cracked tiled floor. "How did I get here?"  
  
Suddenly, her eyes fell upon three robed figures facing each other inside a circle of flame. One of the figures seemed to be kneeling in pain to a man with large spiky hair and a robed woman, who now raised her hand high above her head.  
  
"For your sins, you shall be cast unto the shadow realm!" The robed woman cried as she summoned a stone tablet with a familiar carving of the Dark Magician Girl onto the tiled floor. "Your servants were no match for the combined power of the pharaoh and me, did you think you could prove more of a match than they did?"  
  
Sakura recognized the woman's face as she removed the robes on her head. "Is that me?"  
  
"Foolish priestess!" The kneeling man shouted as he raised his own stone tiles. "Your female magician is no match for my magic. And she is definitely no match for the great Dark Ruler Ha Des!"  
  
"Perhaps not." The spiky haired man said, summoning another stone tablet. "But with the combined power of my own Dark Magician. We shall together banish you to the shadow realm and end your mutiny."  
  
Sakura gasped as the two very familiar duel monsters came to life and released their dark magic upon the kneeling man. "What's happening?" She asked herself. "Why are they dueling? Why am I here?"  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the man's screech as the two attacks hit him. "You'll pay, pharaoh!" He screamed at the spiky haired man. "I will return one day to have my revenge against you and your priestess!" And with those words, he disappeared into the darkness.  
  
----------  
  
Sakura's bedroom.  
  
Sakura found herself breathing heavily as she woke up. As she tried to calm herself down, she reminisced about her dream.  
  
"That was too weird." She whispered to herself. "I could have sworn the dream was real. It felt so. . . familiar."  
  
She looked at the clock on her wall, which said 1:30. Yawning, Sakura tried to force herself back to sleep so she can get rested for the day that would soon follow. She tried to forget the dream that she just had, only to find that she couldn't. It haunted her like an eerie ghost of a memory.  
  
"The pharaoh." She whispered. "He looked like Yugi."  
  
----------  
  
Joey's Bedroom.  
  
"ZZZzzzzzz." The snore of Joey Wheeler could pass for a foghorn easily. "Take that, Kaiba!" He talked in his sleep. "Now both you and Shin know not ta mess with the king of duels, Joey Wheeler, hah! ZZZzzzzzz."  
  
After another set of mumbled words about pizza and soda, Joey finally stopped talking in his sleep. Not that his snoring was any quieter.  
  
----------  
  
Roof of Sakura's apartment.  
  
He glanced at his watch as he stared into her bedroom through the windows. It was 1:34. He returned to his watch over the girl, who had seemingly returned to sleep after waking so abruptly.  
  
"Sleep well, priestess." Shin whispered, as he leapt from his vintage point to the other side of the streets, a ten story jump with a perfect soundless landing. The shrouded man silently walked into the ally way, disappearing into the shadows. 


	6. Entrance of the Dark Monarchs, a Double ...

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 6: Entrance of the Dark Monarchs, a Double Duel!  
  
Dock Warehouses.  
  
"Is he usually this late?" Sakura impatiently asked. She had good reason to, for her watch said it was already 6:37, and Joey was still nowhere to be found.  
  
"Joey can be a little absent minded sometimes." Yugi informed. "But he never shows up late for a duel. I wonder if Shin is willing to be waiting all this time."  
  
"If Joey wants his Tri-Horned Dragon back, he'd better hurry." Sakura said. "It's already more than half an hour past six. I hope he didn't back down or something on his way here."  
  
"Nuh-uh." Yugi said as he shook his head. "If there's one thing about Joey, it's that he never backs down from a challenge, especially not a duel. In the Battle City Tournament, he faced against one of the most dangerous men in the world, and still he never doubted himself. It's just not like Joey to give up on anything."  
  
Sakura nodded. "But if he didn't back down, then where is he?"  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know?" A boastful voice came from behind Yugi and Sakura.  
  
"Joey?" Yugi asked as he turned around. But instead of finding his friend, he found a tall man dressed in black robes with a headband that held back slick black hair in front of him.  
  
"I'm afraid you're mistaken." The man said. "My name is Tamashii, the sixth member of the Dark Monarch Clan."  
  
A robed woman with long blonde hair suddenly appeared by Tamashii's side. "And I am Kaede, the eighth member. If you want to know where your friend is, you'll have to go through us."  
  
"What?" Yugi shouted. "Where is Joey? What have you done with him?!"  
  
"Well, you're just going to have to duel us for that information, aren't you?" Tamashii snickered. "It'll be simple, Yugi Moto. In order to find your friend, you'll have to duel past me first. And if you are so lucky to survive, you'll have Kaede to deal with. If by chance, you happen to defeat both of us, then a third member of our clan shall release your friend."  
  
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Yugi demanded.  
  
"Our word is all you have." The woman, Kaede, smirked.  
  
"Fine." Yugi said as he strapped on his duel disk. "I'll make short work of you both."  
  
"Not so fast, Yugi Moto." Tamashii said as he took out two devices. "It is tradition that in our clan, we duel for higher stakes, much higher stakes." He then threw Yugi one of the devices and attached the other to his own duel disk. "In addition to the standard rule that states the loser must hand over his rarest card to the winner, we'll also play with this risk. These are small grenades that attach onto the life point counter of your duel disk. If your life points reach zero, they explode, simple as that. If you're lucky, you'll die painlessly. These are the stakes that we play with."  
  
"What?" Sakura gasped. "You can't be serious. Who the hell has ever heard of a life threatening duel? Yugi, let's just forget about them and find Joey ourselves."  
  
"I accept your terms." Yugi said as he attached the small bomb onto his duel disk, surprising Sakura even more. "It won't be the first time I've had to put my life on the line for my best friend. I am more than willing to do so again."  
  
'He sounds so different from before.' Sakura thought to herself. 'As if he's more confident, and more bold than before. Like a completely different person.'  
  
"Then shall we begin?" Tamashii asked.  
  
"Wait!" Sakura interrupted as she too strapped on her duel disk. "How about a two on two duel? Me and Yugi against you and Kaede?"  
  
"Sakura!" Yugi shouted. "This is too dangerous for you! Don't draw yourself into this!"  
  
"It's okay, Yugi." Sakura said. "If we duel them together, we can beat them faster. And the faster we beat them, the faster we can find Joey, right? And anyways, I can't let creeps like these guys go pushing other people around."  
  
Yugi stared at the brave girl. "Thank you, Sakura." He finally said with a smile. Then he turned towards the robed figures. "We've agreed to your terms now agree to ours: a two on two duel!"  
  
"Hah." Tamashii scoffed as he took out two more grenades. He handed one to his comrade and threw the other to Sakura. "Very well, Kaede and I shall duel you both together."  
  
"The rules of a double duel state that partners may defend each other's life points with their own monster if their partner is threatened with a direct attack." Kaede informed. "Furthermore, you may attack any, with the exception of your own, monsters on the field, including your partners. But you may not control your partner's monsters, even with their consent. Graveyards are to remain separate from your partners and you may only tribute your own monsters. The first attack can only be declared by the duelist who goes last. Finally, magic cards, trap cards, and effect monsters that affect numerous monsters such as Raigeki will apply to only one opponent, both opponents, or every duelist depending on the card."  
  
"Agreed." Saukra and Yugi said in unison.  
  
'This makes it easier on us actually.' Tamashii thought to himself. 'If Kaede and I both focus on defeating Yugi, we can finish him easily and victory will be ensured for our master.'  
  
"All right." Tamashii shouted. "It's time to duel!"  
  
Yugi: 8000  
  
Sakura: 8000  
  
Tamashii: 8000  
  
Kaede: 8000  
  
"You may start the duel off, Yugi." Tamashii stated. "Then I'll take my turn, then the girl over there, then finally Kaede will finish things off."  
  
"Very well." Yugi said as he drew his first hand. "I'll lay this one card face down in my magic/trap slot, and summon the mighty Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in attack mode!" The holographic projectors displayed a large yellow monster with magnets attached to its body and head. "This will end my turn."  
  
"A weak monster to start with." Tamashii taunted as he played his own monster. "Compared to my powerful Mechanical Chaser (1850/800), your magnet warrior is scrap. But because I'm not allowed to attack yet, I must end my turn."  
  
'Foolish Tamashii.' Kaede thought to herself. 'Always starting things off with your strong monsters without knowing what the opponent has. He's still playing like a low level duelist.'  
  
"Okay, my turn!" Sakura excitedly shouted as she drew her hand. "Time to start things off with a magic card: Graceful Charity." She immediately drew three additional cards into her hand and discarded two. "Now I'll set two magic/trap cards face down and summon the Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050) in attack mode!" The Dark Witch projection formed in front of the fiery duelist. "That ends my turn."  
  
'One of the trap cards that I just laid face down was Call of the Haunted.' Sakura thought to herself as she reviewed her strategy in her mind. 'And I threw out my Dark Magician with my Graceful Charity card. That means by my next turn I'll have a level seven monster out without even needing to sacrifice anything!' This early offensive strategy had often won many duels for her in the past. It was quick and unexpected, and would prove successful if the opponent did not have the sufficient cards to counter traps.  
  
'What is Sakura doing?' Yugi silently asked himself as he scanned through the graveyard. 'She just threw away her Dark Magician. She must be trying to revive it with those cards she placed face down. I just hope our opponents didn't catch on to her strategy.'  
  
But just as Yugi feared, Kaede had already figured out Sakura's plan and had the perfect way to stop it. "You shouldn't make your strategy so obvious little girl." Kaede taunted as she inserted a card into one of the magic/trap slots. "I'll play the magic card: Monster Reborn to revive your Dark Magician (2500/2100) from the graveyard and back him up with the monster known as the Witch's Apprentice (550/500)." Through her holographic magic card, the powerful Dark Magician arose from the ground. A small monster holding a broom stick appeared next to it. Suddenly, the Dark Magician started to increase in size as its attack power grew to 3000.  
  
"What's happening?" Sakura asked. "Why did its attack points suddenly increase?"  
  
"The Witch's Apprentice is an effect monster." Kaede explained. "When she is on the field, all Dark monsters including herself gain an attack power of 500. Furthermore, the attack power of light monsters like your Dunames drop by 400." Sakura gasped in fear as her monster grew weaker and smaller. "Now, Dark Magician, attack Yugi's monster, Beta the Magnet Warrior!"  
  
Yugi gritted his teeth as his magnet warrior was destroyed before him. He looked intently at his dropping life points, keeping in mind that the device right next to it would explode if he would lose. "My turn is over." Kaede declared. "So it's your move, Yugi Moto."  
  
End of Turn 1  
  
Yugi: 6700 (1 card face down)  
  
Sakura: 8000 (Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode, 2 cards face down)  
  
Tamashii: 8000 (Mechanical Chaser in attack mode)  
  
Kaede: 8000 (Dark Magician in attack mode, Witch's Apprentice in attack mode)  
  
"Alright." Yugi said as he drew his next card. "I'll summon one monster in defense mode and set one card face down, ending my turn."  
  
'Is that all?' Sakura silently asked. 'With both Kaede and Tamashii having monsters on the field including the Dark Magician, how can his defenses hold?'  
  
"Sakura." Yugi suddenly said. "If we are to win this we must protect each other as a team. That is the only way we can escape this with our lives. Do you understand?"  
  
"I know that!" Sakura shouted with the "well DUH" tone. "I know the meaning of teamwork already. You don't have to lecture me."  
  
'Wait!' Sakura suddenly thought to herself. 'What if he wasn't trying to lecture me? What if he was trying to tell me something?'  
  
She looked at Yugi, who was smiling at her. "I understand." She said with a nod, smiling back at him.  
  
"Yes." Yugi said. "Teamwork. Now make your move, Tamashii."  
  
"I will." Tamashii replied with a smug on his face. "I'll wipe our your defenses with this level six monster, which I sacrifice the Mechanical Chaser to summon. Go, Cyber-Tech Alligator (2500/1600)!"  
  
'Another machine monster.' Yugi noted in his mind. 'Good thing I've had experience battling against them during my duel with Bandit Keith.'  
  
"And now I'll attack your monster in defense mode." Tamashii continued. "Cyber-Tech Alligator attack his monster!" The mechanical reptilian beast lounged towards Yugi's face down monster."  
  
"Sakura!" Yugi shouted as the monster neared him.  
  
Sakura nodded. 'I was saving this trap card for Kaede.' Sakura thought to herself. 'But Yugi wants me to activate it now, and I trust him.'  
  
"Not so fast." Sakura interrupted. "I activate one of my face down cards, the trap card known as Kunai with Chain! This forces your monster into defense mode, stopping your attack. But that's not all, I can then equip this onto my Dunames Dark Witch to raise her attack power by 500 points!"  
  
Tamashii frowned as his monster was forced into defense mode. "That was stupid of you, little girl." Tamashii grunted. "Very stupid."  
  
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Our plan was to defeat Yugi." Kaede explained. "Then after we both crushed him, we would consider letting you go, seeing as how you play no part in our master's plans. But you've just graduated from being a small nuisance to being a big annoyance." Her attention then turned towards her partner. "Tamashii, delay the mission to destroy Yugi for a little while. We'll crush the little girl first!" 


	7. Teamwork!

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 7: Teamwork!  
  
"We'll crush the little girl first!" Kaede exclaimed.  
  
"Sakura!" Yugi shouted. "Be very careful!"  
  
"Don't worry; it's my turn isn't it?" Sakura confidently said. "Alright, now that my Dunames has an attack of 1900, I can easily wipe out your either the Witch's Apprentice or the Cyber-Tech Alligator that's in defense mode, but I don't think I will do either. Instead, I'll switch my Dunames into defense mode and summon another monster in defense mode. Then I'll end my turn by playing one card face down. Your turn, Kaede."  
  
'Can she be any more obvious?' Kaede thought to herself with a smirk. 'The girl switched her Dunames into defense mode and it only has a weak defense of 1050. She's trying to lure me into attacking her instead of Yugi, who obviously has some powerful monster that requires sacrificing his face down defense monster. Because the Dunames is in defense mode, she won't suffer any drop in her life points, and she'll probably activate that face down card that she had just placed on the field, putting my advantage to an end.'  
  
"I'm not falling for your trap." Kaede said as she drew a card. "I'll destroy the card you've just placed face down on the field with my magic card: Mystical Typhoon." The magic card appeared in front of Kaede, forming a great tornado that completely blew away one of Sakura's face down cards. "Now I'll summon another Witch's Apprentice in attack mode, further raising the attack points of my Dark Magician to 3500 and decreasing your Dunames Dark Witch's attack power! Dark Magician, attack Yugi's face down monster and leave him open for a direct attack!" The holographic magician released its signature Dark Magic Attack onto Yugi's monster, instantly destroying it.  
  
"Heh." Yugi chuckled. "The monster you've destroyed was the Wall of Illusion. Once attacked, it activates its special ability, sending the Dark Magician to its rightful owner's hand." As the Wall of Illusion vanished from the field, as did the Dark Magician, which was returned to Sakura's hand.  
  
"It doesn't matter." Kaede said. "Your life points are still open to a direct attack. So, both of my Witch's Apprentices, attack Yugi's life points, now!" As the attacks succeeded through, Yugi saw his remaining life points cut to nearly half.  
  
"Yugi!" Sakura shouted. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'll be fine." Yugi assured. "You got your Dark Magician back, so it was worth it."  
  
"My turn isn't over yet." Kaede continued. "I'll lay one card face down on the field, and that should do it for now."  
  
----------  
  
End of Turn 2  
  
Yugi: 3600 (1 card face down)  
  
Sakura: 8000 (Dunames Dark Witch in defense mode, 1 monster in defense mode, Kunai with Chain, 1 card face down)  
  
Tamashii: 8000 (Cyber-Tech Alligator in defense mode)  
  
Kaede: 8000 (2 Witch's Apprentices in attack mode, 1 card face down)  
  
----------  
  
"Even though you have struck my life points, this duel is far from over." Yugi shouted as he drew his card. "I'll summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior onto the field (1500/1800) in attack mode, and I'll also resurrect a monster from the graveyard with my own Monster Reborn card. I'll bring back Beta the Magnet Warrior onto the field also in attack mode." The two magnet warriors stood next to each other, raising their magnet weapons to prepare for battle. "Now, Beta the Magnet Warrior, attack one of the Witch's Apprentices!"  
  
"I'm going to have to stop your attack with my trap card." Kaede interrupted. "I activate Waboku, which will stop your attacks from doing any damage to my monsters." Having failed the attack, Yugi could do nothing but end his turn.  
  
"My turn!" Tamashii bellowed as he drew his card. "And don't think we've forgotten about you, little girl. Your Kunai with Chain will not hold my Cyber-Tech Alligator for long. I play the magic card: Remove Trap, destroying your Kunai with Chain and freeing my monster." The holographic alligator roared as the chains around it disappeared.  
  
'I could destroy Yugi's monster.' Tamashii thought to himself. 'But that would allow the girl to sacrifice her monsters to summon the Dark Magician that was just returned to her. I must wipe one of her monsters out, but which one? I could attack her Dark Witch, but it is already weak by the power of Kaede's Witch's Apprentices and poses no threat. I should destroy the other monster with my Cyber-Tech Alligator.'  
  
"Alright, Cyber-Tech Alligator." Tamashii shouted. "Destroy the girl's face down monster!" The giant alligator tore across the field, rampaging towards the face down card in front of Sakura.  
  
"Yugi!" Sakura screamed in distress. "Help!"  
  
"I'll handle this!" Yugi boasted. "Activate face down trap: Spellbinding Circle! It will hold your machine monster in an encasing circle, ceasing its attack!"  
  
"No!" Tamashii roared in frustration. "Damn your traps. My machines hardly have any defenses against them!"  
  
'Tamashii is an idiot.' Kaede thought in her mind. 'All he's good for is taking the shots of all the enemy traps. Fortunately, that plays perfectly well with my strategy. If Tamashii does a good job of taking the hits, then that will stall enough for me to destroy Yugi. All Tamashii has to do is block their attacks and use their trap cards for a little while longer.'  
  
"I'll end my turn by playing one card face down in my magic/trap slot." Tamashii said as he inserted his card. "Make your move."  
  
'Kaede will probably use me as a shield against the enemies' attacks until she can find a way to destroy both the girl and Yugi.' Tamashii thought to himself. 'That'll be fine, nothing can get through my machine monsters. Furthermore, the card that I've just laid down was the Shadow Spell trap. It will protect Kaede against the girl's attacks long enough for her to complete her strategy.'  
  
"I'm guessing everyone knows what I'm about to do, because it's pretty obvious." Sakura said as she started her turn.  
  
"Sakura." Yugi said, grabbing her attention. "Be careful of the face down card that Tamashii had just played."  
  
"Don't worry, I know how to deal with it." Sakura assured. "So before I play my Dark Magician, I'll flip my face down monster, the Trap Master! I'll use its special ability to destroy Tamashii's face down card."  
  
"Not Trap Master!" Tamashii cried as his trap was destroyed. "Now Kaede's Witch's Apprentices are completely vulnerable."  
  
"That's right." Sakura smirked. "So now I sacrifice my two monsters to summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100), who thanks to Kaede, gets a 1000 attack point boost!" The two monsters before Sakura faded as the Dark Magician once again took the field. "Dark Magician, attack one of the Witch's Apprentices with Dark Magic Attack!" The stream of dark energy flowed from the Dark Magician's hands, wiping out one of the Witch's Apprentices and lowering Kaede's life points to 6050. "That ends my turn." Sakura proudly concluded.  
  
"Hmph." Kaede scoffed as she drew. "I'll play the magic card: Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two more cards." She took two cards from her deck, a sharp smile instantly appearing as she saw what she drew. "Next, I play my third and final Witch's Apprentice to give all the dark type monsters another boost. Finally, I'll set two cards face down and that'll end my turn."  
  
----------  
  
Yugi: 3600 (Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode, Gamma the Magnet Warrior in attack mode, Spellbinding Circle)  
  
Sakura: 8000 (Dark Magician in attack mode, 1 card face down)  
  
Tamashii: 8000 (Cyber-Tech Alligator in attack mode)  
  
Kaede: 6050 (2 Witch's Apprentice in attack mode, 2 cards face down)  
  
----------  
  
'It's my turn.' Yugi thought to himself as he prepared to draw his card. 'I already have two of the three magnet warriors on the field, but I don't have Alpha the Magnet Warrior in my hand. Drawing it would really be useful now.'  
  
'We can do it.' Yami said to his alter self. 'We just have to believe in the heart of the cards. It has saved us before during Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, and even during the virtual duels against Noah and the Big Five. We must trust the cards to pull us through.'  
  
'I know.' Yugi replied as he closed his eyes along with the pharaoh. 'We must believe.'  
  
"I draw." Yugi announced as he took the top card in his deck into his hand. A small smirk appeared on his mouth as he looked at his newly drawn card. "And I play Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) in attack mode! Now that I have all three magnet warriors on the field, I can fuse them into the powerful Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!" The three holographic magnet warriors separated their parts, then reattached themselves onto each other, forming one great magnet warrior.  
  
"Way to go, Yugi!" Sakura shouted in glee. "Now we have the most powerful monsters on the field! We'll finish this duel in no time!"  
  
'She's right.' Yugi thought to himself. 'We control the field for now, but they don't seem to be worried at all. Kaede has two face down cards, one of them might be a trap that could stop my Valkyrion's attack. If we are to win this double duel, I can't make a clumsy mistake.'  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for, Yugi?" Sakura asked impatiently. "We have to hurry up and defeat them so we can find Joey. We should finish off Kaede first because she has the lower life points. Attack her already!" Actually, Sakura was more worried about the device that was attached onto her duel disk. She just wanted to finish the duel quickly so the small bomb would be disabled.  
  
"Wait, Sakura." Yugi said. "We must be cautious if we want to leave here alive. Kaede has two cards face down, and she doesn't seem to be worried at all. They must have some way to block my attack."  
  
Sakura looked at the bomb on her life point counter. "Alright." She sighed. "I understand."  
  
"Good." Yugi said as he returned his attention to the duel. "Then I'll end my turn."  
  
"You were a fool not to attack, Yugi Moto." Tamashii stated. "If you think that you have control of this duel, think again. I play the magic card, Premature Burial. For the cheap price of 800 life points, I can revive my Mechanical Chaser back to the field. Next, I'll sacrifice both my Cyber-Tech Alligator and Mechanical Chaser to summon my rarest monster, the Barrel Dragon (2600/2200) in attack mode!"  
  
A mechanical dragon with three barrel cannons attached to it appeared on the field. It's devastating power glimmered with brilliance and darkness."  
  
"And because of the two Witch's Apprentices on the field, its attack power rises to 3600!" Tamashii continued. "Furthermore, my Barrel Dragon has a special ability. It has a fifty percent chance that it will automatically destroy any monster!"  
  
"Oh no." Yugi gasped. "That means with its high attack power and its special effect, it can wipe out both mine and Sakura's monsters this turn!"  
  
"That's right." Tamashii said. "Now, Barrel Dragon, use your special ability. Destroy Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!"  
  
At its master's command, the Barrel Dragon unleashed a barrage of cannon fire, creating a big explosion around Valkyrion the Magna Warrior. Yugi shielded his eyes from the blast that appeared before him. As he removed his arm from his eyes, all he could see was smoke. 


	8. What Have I Done?

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 8: What Have I Done?  
  
Smoke covered the field, a result of the stunning firepower of a single machine, the Barrel Dragon.  
  
'Did I destroy it?' Tamashii asked himself as the smoke started to clear. 'I must have destroyed it. Nothing can stop the power of my ultimate machine!' But much to his dismay, and to Yugi's relief, Valkyrion stood unscathed by the Barrel Dragon's cannon fire.  
  
"Looks like your Barrel Dragon's special effect failed you, Tamashii." Yugi said. "My Valkyrion is unharmed, and it still protects my life points."  
  
"That maybe so." Tamashii replied. "But my Barrel Dragon can still attack. So I can still wipe out your Valkyrion, but I think I'll let it stay on the field. Seeing as how the next turn belongs to Sakura, I shall target her Dark Magician, so that she may not harm my partner's monsters."  
  
"How very thoughtful." Sakura sarcastically whispered.  
  
"Now, Barrel Dragon, destroy the Dark Magician!" Tamashii cried. Once again the cannons mounted on the machine dragon fired, and once again a large explosion appeared. Hitting its mark, the enormous blasts of energy decimated the Dark Magician.  
  
"My turn's not over yet." Tamashii said. "I play this magic card, Ring of Magnetism. It directs all of my opponent's attacks to my Barrel Dragon at the cost of 500 of its defense and attack points."  
  
"Why would you play that?" Yugi asked. "Now, your Barrel Dragon is vulnerable to my Valkyrion's attack."  
  
"That may be true, but I'll quickly remedy that." Tamashii answered. "With this magic card, I'll show you both why machines are superior to all monsters. I play Paralyzing Potion. It only affects non-machine monsters, and stops the equipped monster from attacking. Your Valkyrion is useless now!" A maniacal laugh followed his statement. "To end my turn, I play one card face down on my magic/trap slot."  
  
"Then I'll draw." Sakura stated. "And I summon a monster face down in defense mode. Then I'll play the magic card, Foolish Burial. This allows me to discard any monster from my own deck to the graveyard."  
  
'I see. Sakura must be trying to power up her Dark Magician Girl in advance.' Yugi thought to himself. 'She's throwing away another one of her Dark Magician because she'll have a hard time summoning it to the field if she draws it. Furthermore, because it's taken out of her deck, she'll have better luck in drawing a card that she needs.'  
  
"I'll place one more card face down and that'll end my turn." Sakura concluded.  
  
'Traps won't help you now, little girl.' Kaede thought to herself as she looked at her two holographic face down cards. 'One of my two trap cards is called the Seven Tools of the Bandit, it'll stop any trap you throw at me. The other one is the magic card known as United We Stand. I placed it face down to bluff Yugi into not attacking me. I will play it when the time is right.'  
  
"I also play a monster face down in defense mode." Kaede declared. "And to further boost Barrel Dragon's power, I'll play the field card called Mystic Plasma Zone. It'll raise the attack of all dark monsters by 500 points. This ends my turn."  
  
----------  
  
End of Turn 4  
  
Yugi: 3600 (Valkyrion the Magna Warrior in attack mode)  
  
Sakura: 7900 (1 monster face down in defense mode, 2 cards face down)  
  
Tamashii: 7200 (Barrel Dragon in attack mode, Paralyzing Potion, Ring of Magnetism, 1 card face down)  
  
Kaede: 6050 (2 Witch's Apprentices in attack mode, 1 monster face down in defense mode, 2 cards face down, Mystic Plasma Zone)  
  
----------  
  
Yugi sighed as he drew. This duel was not looking in his favor. 'Valkyrion can't attack now, so it's pretty much useless.' He thought to himself. 'If I dismantle him, he may be good for tributes.'  
  
"I'll activate my Valkyrion's special ability, splitting him into three separate warriors again." Yugi proclaimed. As quickly as his magnet warriors had assembled into the great magna warrior, the giant monster disassembled back into its three divided forms. "Now I can tribute two of my magnet warriors to summon my own Dark Magician in attack mode!" The monster so loyal to Yugi once again appeared in front of him in the place of his Alpha and Gamma magnet warriors.  
  
'Thanks to Kaede's cards, my Dark Magician has an attack power of 4000 and can easily take out Tamashii's Barrel Dragon.' Yugi silently thought. 'That is, if there wasn't so many face down cards on the field. I can't risk attacking, seeing as how one of them may be a trap card that can seriously hurt me.'  
  
"I'll end my turn." Yugi finally said, noticing Sakura's silence in understanding why he did not attack.  
  
"You disappoint me, Yugi Moto." Tamashii smirked. "I would have thought that a duelist like you would back his title up with some action." His smirk widened as he drew his next card. "Alright, I'll activate Barrel Dragon's special ability again to destroy your Dark Magician." The massive Barrel Dragon aimed its attack onto Yugi's monster, firing its cannons again and again. The field was covered by a familiar smokescreen. As it cleared, Tamashii frowned to see that his Barrel Dragon's effect had once again failed him. "No matter." He said without worry. "I still have other methods of disabling your Dark Magician. Like with this magic card, Germ Infection!" Tamashii slid his newly drawn card into his magic slot. "Germ Infection is another magic card that doesn't affect machines, once again proving their superiority. With each turn, your Dark Magician loses 300 attack points, making it gradually weaker and weaker. And remember that I can still attack. So Barrel Dragon, attack the girl's face down monster!"  
  
"Tamashii you idiot!" Kaede shouted out. But it was too late, Barrel Dragon had already fired on its target. As the blasts struck the face down card, an odd looking green monster revealed itself before shattering into its holographic pieces.  
  
"You've just destroyed my Greenkappa monster, activating its special effect." Sakura informed. "Once flipped over, I can destroy any two face down magic or trap cards. And I choose the two cards that Kaede has face down!" Instantly, the two holograms in front of Kaede disappeared.  
  
"Now it's my turn." Sakura said as she drew. "I'll play one monster face down in defense mode and that's all."  
  
Kaede was not happy that her two face down cards were destroyed, not happy at all. But her frown suddenly faded as she looked at her drawn card. "This is the card I've been waiting for!" Kaede exclaimed. "This duel will soon be over! I play the magic card: Toon World!"  
  
"Oh no!" Yugi shouted. "Not Toon World!"  
  
"What's Toon World?" Sakura asked, quite unfamiliar with the rarer cards.  
  
"It's a very rare and dangerous magic card." Yugi explained, recalling his duel at Duelist Kingdom against Pegasus. He remembered watching Pegasus's toon monsters quickly wipe out Kaiba, then having to face the insanely bent monsters himself. "With Toon World in play, Kaede will be able to summon very powerful cartoon monsters. I've only had very little experience against it so I do not know all the abilities of the toon creatures."  
  
"Then allow me to fill you two in." Kaede smirked. "I summon the creature known as the Toon Summoned Skull (2500/1200) by sacrificing my face down defense monster." As the face down hologram disappeared, a very twisted version of the Summoned Skull appeared from the Toon World magic card. Its wacky eyes bounced out and in of its sockets as the creature made its entrance. "The Toon Summoned Skull may only be played if I have Toon World on the field and may not attack when it is first summoned. However, for the cost of 500, I can bypass your monsters and directly attack your life points. And because of the upgrade dark type monsters get from my Witch's Apprentice and Mystic Plasma Zone, My Toon Summoned Skull has more than enough attack points to destroy you, Yugi!"  
  
Yugi stepped back in fear. If they could not counter the toon monster by Kaede's next turn, he would be finished.  
  
"I end my turn for now, but next turn, this duel will be over." Kaede said.  
  
----------  
  
End of Turn 5  
  
Yugi: 3600 (Dark Magician in attack mode)  
  
Sakura: 7900 (2 cards face down)  
  
Tamashii: 7200 (Barrel Dragon in attack mode, Germ Infection, Ring of Magnetism, 1 card face down)  
  
Kaede: 6050 (2 Witch's Apprentices in attack mode, Toon Summoned Skull in attack mode, Mystic Plasma Zone, Toon World)  
  
----------  
  
"You may have been able to summon your toon monster." Yugi shouted as he drew his next card. "But we will find a way to destroy it."  
  
'Unfortunately, I don't have anything in my hand that can stop her toon monster.' Yugi thought as he looked at his cards. 'During the last turn, Sakura managed to destroy the two face down cards that Kaede placed. And even with Tamashii's Germ Infection, my Dark Magician is still more powerful than his Barrel Dragon, seeing as how it's attack power is lowered by 500 through the effects of Ring of Magnetism. I can attack, but he also played a card face down. It could be a trap.'  
  
'Nevertheless, we have to take the risk.' Yami thought to his alternate self. 'We must destroy the Barrel Dragon to give Sakura a chance to take out the Toon Summoned Skull. Even if Tamashii has a trap played, we can at least make him waste it on us.'  
  
'You're right.' Yugi said as he prepared to attack.  
  
'May the heart of the cards guide us.' The two prayed. "Dark Magician, attack the Barrel Dragon!" Yugi ordered. "Dark magic attack!"  
  
"Not so fast!" Tamashii boasted. "Activate trap card: Windstorm of Etaqua. It forces every monster on the field to change its position, so it'll set your Dark Magician in defense mode, making it unable to attack!"  
  
Still determined to win, Yugi turned towards Sakura. "We must get past their defenses before Kaede is allowed to attack with her Toon Summoned Skull." He told her.  
  
"What's the point?" Sakura sighed, slightly surprising Yugi. "Your attack failed, and they have too many strong monsters. There's nothing in my hand that could get through their defenses. And unless you can change that, we'll lose this duel and our lives with it."  
  
"Don't get discouraged, Sakura." Yugi said.  
  
'Wait.' Yugi thought to himself. 'Sakura is definitely not the type who gives up. She's trying to tell me something. . . of course!'  
  
"Alright, Sakura." Yugi said as he placed a card in his magic/trap slot. "Let's put the odds in our favor then. I play the magic card, Exchange! And I choose to use this card with you, Sakura."  
  
"Good going, Yugi." Sakura said as she beamed a smile at him. The two duelists walked up to each other, showing their hands. "I'll take this one." Sakura said as she picked a magic card from Yugi's hand.  
  
"And I'll choose this one." Yugi said as he picked a monster card from Sakura's hand, sure that she didn't need it. "I'll end my turn now."  
  
"My turn again." Tamashii said as he drew his card. "And I'll start things off with a blast from my Barrel Dragon." He stuck a finger out and pointed at Yugi's Dark Magician. "Barrel Dragon, destroy his Dark Magician with your special ability!" The Barrel Dragon fired a volley of explosions, each blast aimed for the Dark Magician. Whereas the two previous times failed to succeed, the Dark Magician was not so lucky this turn. Having been hit directly by the Barrel Dragon's special effect, the Dark Magician shattered into thousands of tine holographic shards.  
  
"No! My Dark Magician!" Yugi cried as his favored monster was destroyed before his eyes.  
  
"Finally, it hit!" Tamashii shouted in excitement. "Now your life points are open to attack! Barrel Dragon, with an attack of 3600, attack Yugi's life points and wipe his life points out!" At his command, the Barrel Dragon charged its cannons and fired straight at Yugi.  
  
"Activate trap card!" Sakura interrupted. "Magical Cylinders!" Two cylinders appeared in front of Yugi, intercepting the blast and redirecting it towards Tamashii, hitting him with full force and taking a large portion of his life points out.  
  
"I can't believe it!" Tamashii gasped. "My life points are at a measily 3600 now and are tied with Yugi Moto's."  
  
'Heh.' Kaede silently laughed. 'The rookie Tamashii should have known it was too risky to attack. It doesn't matter. It was good that he took the hit of the Magical Cylinders so my Toon Summoned Skull can attack without trouble. And as long as the fool has his Barrel Dragon out, he'll be taking all the hits instead of me. My toon monsters will dominate their life points in a matter of turns.'  
  
"That had better be worth it, Kaede." Tamashii said. "I've done my part in this duel so you better finish them off. As for now, I'll end my turn."  
  
"My turn." Sakura said. "And it's time to tip the duel in our favor."  
  
Yugi nodded. "Do it Sakura."  
  
"Right." Sakura replied as she drew. A grin appeared as she looked at her card. "First I'll special summon this monster in attack mode. Go, Fiend Megacyber (2200/1200)! Because if its special effect, I can summon this level six monster without having to tribute anything. Its attack power is also raised up to 3700 because it's a dark type monster."  
  
"No! Now it's stronger than my Barrel Dragon!" Tamashii cried.  
  
"I'll also lay one card face down in my magic/trap slot." Sakura continued. "Now I'll play the magic card that I took from Yugi when he played exchange. Activate Card Destruction! Every duelist has to discard their hand and draw new cards now."  
  
"What are you trying to accomplish, little girl?" Kaede asked as she discarded her hand.  
  
"Even if you can destroy the Barrel Dragon, you don't have enough attack power to take out Tamashii's life points. And then you'll also have my toons to deal with."  
  
"That's where you're mistaken, Kaede." Sakura said, her grin growing wider. "I activate the trap card that I played in the beginning of this duel, Call of the Haunted! Now, revive the Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700) that I've just discarded! She gains an extra 300 attack points for every Dark Magician or Black Choas Magician in the graveyard. I count two of my Dark Magicians and one of Yugi's in the graveyard so Dark Magician Girl gets a boost of 900. And because she's also a dark type monster, she'll have the attack strength of 4400 now thanks to Kaede's cards!"  
  
"Now she has enough attack power to take me out of the game!" Tamashii panicked. "I'm doomed!"  
  
"How right you are." Sakura smirked. "Dark Magician Girl, destroy his Barrel Dragon!" The female magician pointed her wand at the mechanical beast and released her version of the dark magic attack, wiping her target out. "Now, Fiend Megacyber, wipe out the rest of his life points!" Sakura ordered without hesitating.  
  
"NO!" Tamashii cried as the yellow armored fiend attacked. "My life points! When they reach zero, the device on my duel disk will. . ."  
  
"I'm not finished yet." Sakura exclaimed, still in the heat of battle and not listening to the whining of Tamashii. "I haven't forgotten about your toons, Kaede. So I'll sacrifice my two monsters for my third and final Dark Magician." The third Dark Magician in her deck took the place of her two previous monsters. "Now that I have Dark Magician on the field, I can activate the face down magic card that I placed before we had to discard our hand. Activate Thousand Knives magic card! With this, I can automatically destroy any monster I want. So I choose to destroy your Toon Summoned Skull!" As the magic card was played, a thousand holographic knives appeared in front of the toon creature and skewered it without mercy, reducing its once twisted nature into a deathly silence.  
  
"Hah!" Sakura laughed. "Take that! This duel is over now that. . ." Before she could finish her sentence, a large flash blinded her eyes, followed by a crackling explosion.  
  
"My god. . ." Sakura gasped as the explosion cleared. Her hands clamped over her mouth as her eyes followed the floor line to where Tamashii stood. But the duelist was not standing anymore. Instead, Tamashii was laying face up on the floor; blood flowed from his arms, face, and chest. Duel Monster cards were scattered all across his bloody figure. His blank stare into the sky made clear that he was dead. "What have I done?" Sakura whimpered as tears began to form in her eyes.  
  
"You did what you had to." Yugi said, hanging his head down. "But you mustn't dwell on this now. The duel is not over yet."  
  
"I don't care!" Sakura sobbed, here eyes now streaming with tears of fear. "I just. . . I didn't mean to. . . I didn't want to." She set her knees onto the ground, reducing into a kneeling position of shock. "I killed him!"  
  
"No, Sakura." Yugi said. "His death was not your fault. Tamashii was killed by his own crazy rules. You did what you needed to do to survive. Furthermore, you saved the both of us. There is no sin in that."  
  
But Sakura would not listen. All she could do was crouch into the fetal position, sobbing on her arms.  
  
"Please, Sakura." Yugi said, trying to calm her down. "We have a duel to finish."  
  
"It is already finished." Kaede shouted. "How am I supposed to duel against you two by myself? Even in the little girl's saddened state, I am still no match for the both of you."  
  
"So do you forfeit?" Yugi asked.  
  
"Forfeit?" Kaede began to manically laugh. "Forfeit?! That would be against my master's orders. No I will not forfeit, you will not win. In fact, none of us will win today."  
  
"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.  
  
Kaede reached into her robes and took out another device, one that was similar to the grenade on her duel disk, but much larger. "You can guess what this is." Kaede said as she pressed on the device, starting what seemed like a timer set to a few seconds. "No one leaves here today alive!"  
  
"Sakura, watch out!" Yugi warned. "It's a bomb!" But before Yugi could do anything, the device went off, catching both him and Sakura in the deafening explosion. 


	9. Super Entrance!

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 9: Super Entrance!  
  
Yugi instinctively raised his arm over his head as the explosion shook the floor below him, but he knew it would not shield him from the blast. However, before the explosion could consume him, a dark figure quickly grabbed his waist and jumped, leaping away from the explosion. It took a while for Yugi to come back to his senses and realize that he wasn't dead. He removed his raised arm from his eyes, looking at the man that saved his life.  
  
"Shin?" Yugi said as he recognized the man. "You saved me?"  
  
Shin nodded, but gave no other response.  
  
"How's Sakura?" Yugi asked, hoping that she was also alright.  
  
"Shaken." Shin said as he glanced towards the girl. "But otherwise, she is fine. She seems to have calmed down."  
  
"I'm glad." Yugi said, sighing in relief. "Thank you for saving us, Shin." He quickly ran over to Sakura, who had stopped crying. "Are you alright, Sakura?"  
  
"Not really." Sakura replied. "But I think I'll be fine." She noticed Yugi's worried expression, knowing he was skeptical of her answer. "I'm okay, really. Come on, Yugi. We have to go find Joey."  
  
"Yes, we do." Yugi said.  
  
"You two are forgetting something." Shin said, holding out two cards. "These are yours."  
  
"What?" Sakura asked as she looked at what Shin was holding. "Oh, the Barrel Dragon."  
  
"And Toon World." Yugi added. "They were Tamashii and Kaede's rarest cards."  
  
"You won the duel." Shin said. "So take them."  
  
"Again, I thank you." Yugi said, taking one of the cards. "I believe the Barrel Dragon would fit nicely with my deck."  
  
"Then I'll take Toon World." Sakura said as she took the remaining card. "I don't really have any need for it, but I guess I did earn it. Thanks, Shin." The man gave no reply, which didn't surprise Yugi or Sakura at all. "One of our friends are being held by these guys." Sakura informed. "You know him, he dueled you just yesterday. Will you accompany us in finding him, Shin?"  
  
"If that is what you wish." Shin replied.  
  
"That'd be great." Sakura cheerfully said. "Let's go find Joey."  
  
----------  
  
Elsewhere.  
  
"Tamashii and Kaede has failed." Said a robed man.  
  
"Indeed." The dark figure replied. "It was obvious they were no match for the pharaoh."  
  
"He had help." The robed servant informed. "He was aided by a girl with exceptional dueling skills."  
  
"The girl?" The dark figure said. "Could it be. . . ? I didn't think that she would be the one."  
  
"As your second in command, I advise you to be cautious." The servant said. "The pharaoh is making strong allies."  
  
"Then I'll leave the task of defeating him to you, my trusted servant." The dark figure ordered. "You will require this." He handed his servant a card, one of a unique three.  
  
"Obelisk the Tormentor?" The servant gasped as he took the card. "I will not fail. But what of the girl?"  
  
"Shin has volunteered to keep an eye on her and Yugi." The dark figure informed. "She will remain under his watch."  
  
"Volunteered?" The servant whispered to himself as he left his master's presence. "I wonder if. . ."  
  
----------  
  
The dock warehouses, 35 minutes later.  
  
"So who are these Dark Monarchs anyways?" Sakura asked.  
  
"I've only heard very little of them." Yugi answered. "I believe they are a gang of duelists ran by an extremely powerful leader. Their organization is very similar to that of the Rare Hunters Clan. They usually wear black robes and act only during nighttime to increase their stealth. They are very dangerous men."  
  
"No kidding." Sakura murmured. Her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of another robed man. "Yugi, look! I think I see another member of that Dark Monarch clan."  
  
As Yugi, Shin, and Sakura approached the robed man, they found that he was unconsciously lying on the floor. A very visible bruise was dented into his face.  
  
"He's been knocked out." Sakura observed. Then she noticed another odd feature on the unconscious man's neck. It was a black tattoo of a crown surrounded by fire. "Hey, what's this?"  
  
"I'm guessing the tattoo is the symbol of the Dark Monarch clan." The spiky haired duelist responded. "I noticed the same tattoos on Tamashii and Kaede's necks."  
  
"How odd." Sakura commented as she stared at the strange symbol.  
  
"Yo guys!" A friendly familiar voice said from behind them. Yugi turned around at the sound of his best friend.  
  
"Joey!" Yugi happily shouted. "You're alright!"  
  
"Of course I am." Joey boasted. "You don't ever gotta worry about the invincible Joey Wheeler."  
  
A giant sweat drop developed over Sakura's forehead. "So how'd you escape from that guy, Joey?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Weirdest thing." Joey said. "I was gonna meet up wit you guys, but then this guy popped outta no where and knocked me out with some sorta stun gun or something. When I came to, this guy was already unconscious, so I started lookin' around for you two. That's when you guys found me."  
  
'So you didn't do anything.' Sakura thought to herself, groaning a bit at Joey's ego. "So who knocked him out?"  
  
"That would be me." A boastful voice that rivaled Joey's said from above. The four duelists looked up, searching for the person that saved Joey. The voice belonged to a kid with large black hair hanging over his head. The kid was just about as tall as Sakura, his body was a bit thin, but his arms showed much muscle. He wore a vest above his green T-shirt. His boastful voice displayed an ego as big as the wide grin that he wore on his face. The boy jumped from his standing place and landed perfectly in front of the four duelists.  
  
"Oi! Super entrance!" The boy cried as he landed, sticking out a thumbs up sign.  
  
Another giant sweat drop appeared on Sakura's head. 'Great, I thought Joey had a big ego.' Sakura thought. "And you would be?"  
  
"Whoa! Super hot!" The boy blurted as he stared at Sakura, totally ignoring her question.  
  
"Huh?" Sakura gasped with a puzzled look.  
  
"Ahem." The boy cleared his throat as he composed himself. He stuck out another thumbs up at Sakura, giving her a wink. "My name is Ryo Rokubungi. Let's go out!"  
  
Sakura's eyes dimmed at the blunt gesture. "Lame." She sighed.  
  
"Lame?!" Ryo cried, his eyes growing teary. He quickly ran to the back of the warehouse and sat into a pitiful sulking position. "I'm. . . lame?"  
  
"And overly dramatic too." The unimpressed girl whispered under her breath.  
  
"Anyways, Ryo was it?" Yugi said. "Thanks a lot for saving our friend. We were very worried about him."  
  
"Hey! I told ya dat you guys don't need to be worried." Joey shouted. "I could've taken care of myself just fine!"  
  
"Sure, that's why you got kidnapped so easily." Sakura giggled. "Does Yugi always have to save your ass every time you get into trouble?"  
  
"Yugi?" Ryo said, perking his head upwards at the sound of the name. "As in Yugi Moto, the champion? You're Yugi?"  
  
"I am." Yugi replied. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Ryo."  
  
"Whoa! It's really THE Yugi Moto!" Ryo shouted in excitement. "This is super cool! I can't believe I'm meeting the champion who defeated Kaiba! I'm gonna remember this day forever! By the way, I pictured you to be a bit taller."  
  
Yugi chuckled at Ryo's enthusiasm. "As do most people. Anyways, let me introduce you to my friends, Joey, and Sakura."  
  
"Super glad to meet you all." Ryo said, giving Sakura another wink. "And who's the other guy in the black trench coat?"  
  
"Oh, his name is Shin." Sakura said as she turned towards the shrouded man. "He doesn't talk much but he's. . . OH MY GOD!!!"  
  
"What is it?" Yugi asked as he turned his face to Sakura's direction. "Is something. . . SHIN, YOU'RE BLEEDING!"  
  
Indeed, the mysterious man was clutching at his side, applying pressure to his bleeding wound. Much of his strength was lost; he could not even stand on his own, seeing as how he was leaning on a wall. "He must have got injured from the blast when he saved us." Sakura said as she clamped her hands over her mouth. "He's bleeding all over the floor!"  
  
"Get him help, fast!" Joey shouted. "Where's da nearest hospital?"  
  
"It's about half way across the city." Yugi answered. "Do you think we can make it there?  
  
"No. . ." Shin rasped. "No hospital."  
  
"How about my apartment?" Sakura offered. "I only live a quarter mile away. If we can get him there, I can bandage him up with the first aid kit I keep in my room."  
  
"Alright, let's go." Yugi said as he helped lift Shin up onto Joey's shoulders. "Hurry, Sakura. Lead the way."  
  
"Follow me." Sakura said as she ran towards her apartment. Yugi and Joey quickly followed.  
  
"Wait!" Ryo called out after Yugi. "I wanted to challenge you to a duel before you leave."  
  
"Maybe later." Yugi replied as he continued running. "We need to help this man first. Maybe I'll duel you the next time we meet." With those words, Yugi ran off after his two friends, hoping that Shin would make it to the apartment.  
  
----------  
  
A few moments later, in Sakura's apartment.  
  
"Made it." Joey gasped, trying to catch his breath after hauling Shin's body for a quarter of a mile.  
  
"How's Shin?" Yugi asked.  
  
"He's still bleeding." Joey said as Sakura laid Shin's body on her hardwood floor. She then began to wrap the wounds in bandages, stopping the blood from flowing out of his body.  
  
"There." Sakura said as she finished bandaging Shin's wound. "He should be ok now as long as he gets some rest. Can you help me move him to the couch?"  
  
Joey nodded as he carefully lifted Shin onto the soft couch next to him. "Won't your parents get worried that some stranger's bleedin all over their floor?" He asked.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about that." The girl said with a small smile. "I live here by myself."  
  
"That must be tough." Yugi commented. "Where are your parents?"  
  
"They're in America." Sakura answered. "They moved there for a job opportunity when I was about five. I didn't want to leave Japan so they left me in the care of my sensei. But recently, he also left with a note saying he had some business to take care of. So here I am, living by myself."  
  
"I see." Yugi said. He then turned to look at the clock on the wall. "It's getting very late. My grandpa is probably worried about me. I'd better be getting home."  
  
"Same here." Joey said. "Serenity's gotta be worried sick about me. Can you take care of things here, Sakura?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Sakura replied. "Careful on your way home."  
  
As the three duelists said their farewells, Sakura returned her watch to Shin, who silently slept on the couch. Sakura questioned herself at why she was doing this. "I don't even know him." Sakura said to no one in particular. "Why am I going through all this trouble to help him out? Well, I guess he did save me. But this is something more than that." She stared intently at the man's face. "I feel bonded to him, somehow."  
  
Shaking the thoughts from her head, she then realized she was quite hungry. She hadn't eaten since lunch, and it was already a bit past eight o'clock. "I should start cooking dinner. Maybe I should cook for two in case Shin wakes up. He'll probably be hungry too." As she headed for the kitchen, she heard a familiar voice from the window across the room.  
  
"Super entrance!" The obvious voice of Ryo cried. Sakura gasped as she turned towards the window. Much to her surprise, Ryo was standing on the balcony of the window, carrying his wide grin.  
  
"You followed me?!" Sakura screamed at the boy, who was tapping on her window. "Oh my god, you're a stalker!"  
  
"Not really, I didn't follow you." The boy replied. "I followed Yugi. By the way, is he still here?"  
  
"No he isn't." Sakura stated as she opened the window to stop Ryo from tapping on it. "Why are you here?"  
  
"I wanted to challenge him to a duel." Ryo answered. "But I guess he left already, damn. Can I come in? It's a bit cold outside."  
  
The female duelist sighed. "Sure." She finally said. "I guess it's the least I can do for you, since you did save Joey from those guys. Would you like something to eat? I was about to make dinner and if you haven't eaten yet—"  
  
"I'd love some!" Ryo exclaimed before Sakura could even finish her sentence.  
  
"I was just being nice. . ." Sakura muttered under her breath as she headed for the kitchen. After half an hour and a few pots and pans later, the dark haired girl finally placed her last touches to the dinner for three. Silently hoping that Shin would wake up, Sakura walked to the living room and set the food onto the table next to Ryo. Much to her disappointment, Shin was still unconscious, lying on the couch without moving a muscle.  
  
Taking a seat on the table where she served dinner, Sakura looked at Ryo, who had already dug into the food without hesitation. "So why are you so intent on dueling Yugi, Ryo?" Sakura asked as she began eating "What makes you think you can take on the champion?"  
  
"Mfft, I dunno." Ryo shrugged, his words slightly slurred due to the amount of food in his mouth. "I mean, how else am I supposed to make a name for myself?"  
  
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakura asked as she brushed another scoop of rice in her mouth. "So you're just trying to beat Yugi to become the new champion? But no one has ever defeated him. Don't you think your goal a bit arrogant?"  
  
Suddenly, Ryo placed his chopsticks onto the table and stopped eating. "It doesn't matter." He said, clenching a fist in front of his face. "As long as I work hard on my strategy and gain as much experience as I can, I'll defeat Yugi and prove myself to everyone that I'm the best duelist there is. Then everyone will acknowledge me and my dueling skills! That's my goal: for everyone to know the name, Ryo Rokubungi, as the number one duelist in the entire world!"  
  
"Uhh. . ." The female duelist said as she stared at the determined boy. "That's quite an ambition you've got there."  
  
"Yeah, you probably think I'm a dork now." Ryo sighed as he continued the remains of his dinner. After finishing, the fervent boy flashed a smile at Sakura as he headed for the window. "Super thanks for the food. I'll be going now."  
  
"There is a front door you know." Sakura murmured as the boy hopped out the window and began his decent through the balconies. "Weirdo. Speaking of which, I should probably check up on Shin."  
  
As Sakura approached the man, she noticed that he still had his duel disk attached onto his belt. "That can't be comfortable." Sakura noted as she attempted to remove it. Then something on Shin's belt caught her eye. It was a box, obviously made for holding Duel Monsters cards, but that wasn't the only thing that Sakura noticed. The box seemed bigger than the usual ones that duelists carry. In fact, the box was constructed large enough to house two decks. As Sakura opened the box, she saw there were indeed two decks inside. "Two decks?" She asked no one in particular. She saw that one front card of one deck, it was the Queen's Double monster card. "This is the deck he used to defeat Joey. Then why does he have another one." Sakura reached to take out the second deck for examination. "I wonder what's in—"  
  
Before her hand could touch the second deck, Sakura found that she could not move her wrist. She looked at what had caught her hand; much to her surprise, it was Shin's hand reaching out from his laying position.  
  
"Don't touch it." Shin ordered coldly. "That deck is forbidden."  
  
Stepping back, Sakura bowed as she closed the box and set it back to Shin's side. "I'm sorry." Sakura apologized. "I shouldn't have been so nosy."  
  
The stranger gave no reply as usual. Instead, he reattached the box onto his belt and started to lift himself off the couch and onto his feet. The wound on his side by no means slowed him down. "Thank you for the hospitality." Shin said as he headed for the window.  
  
"You're welcome." Sakura replied, watching the shrouded man prepare to leave through the window. "Umm, there is a door you know." But the stranger was already outside and leaping from the balcony. "Why do all the weirdos use the window?" Sakura sighed.   
  
Taking one last glance at Shin, she noticed something on the back of his neck right before he disappeared from her sight. It was a very familiar tattoo, that of a crown engulfed in flames. "Oh my god. . ." Sakura gasped as she quickly realized where she had seen the tattoo before. "It can't be. . ."  
  
----------  
  
High rooftops.  
  
Shin was quickly making his way across the city via jumping from rooftop to rooftop without making a sound. Suddenly, he stopped, sensing another presence that was also striding along the rooftops at the same pace he was. It was a very familiar sense.  
  
"When you 'volunteered' to watch the girl, I didn't think you'd be watching from such a close distance." A voice behind Shin said.  
  
"Vargas Nagisa." Shin whispered, immediately recognizing the voice. It was that of the Dark Monarch's second in command, and one that he considered an eternal rival. "First of the servants. State your business."  
  
"The Dark Monarch clan has been moving slow of late." Nagisa informed. "In addition, I have received reports of mysterious disappearances of many of our new members, further slowing our progress. I wonder whose fault that is."  
  
"Perhaps our master is growing slow with age." Shin replied without so much a flinch.  
  
"Or maybe, somebody is sabotaging the master's plans." Nagisa accused. "Somebody very close."  
  
"Subtle aren't we." Shin sarcastically said. One of very few sarcastic statements he has ever made. "Do not accuse me of treachery without evidence. The master trusts me, as should you."  
  
"The master's judgment does not reflect my own." The first servant countered. "I question your loyalty to the master's plans. You show too much of an interest in the girl that accompanies the pharaoh."  
  
"I know not of what you speak of." Shin replied.  
  
"Is that so?" Nagisa said as he took out a small assassin's dagger. "And if I was to pay a visit to the girl. . ." Shin gave no response. It was until Nagisa swiftly turned towards the direction of Sakura's apartment and prepared to make his way to there that Shin finally showed any reaction. Quickly, the shrouded man in the black trench coat leapt in front of his rival, blocking his way. "Ah, so there is something between you two." Nagisa noted. "Pity. My dagger has thirst for blood."  
  
"It is not in the master's plans to harm the girl." Shin stated as he started to walk away, only to be stopped by a masked boy, slightly shorter than him. Shin stared at the boy, a bit surprised by his appearance. The black mask made it difficult to detect the boy's age, and hid any expression that the boy wore on his face.  
  
"You will answer to Nagisa-sama." The masked boy threatened as he took out a similar dagger that Nagisa held.  
  
"So this is Nagisa's apprentice and favorite, second of the servants." Shin realized as he towered over the boy. "Please step aside."  
  
The masked boy did not move. Acknowledging that the boy would not budge willingly, Shin made an effort to jump over the boy and onto the rooftop across from him. To his surprise, as he tried to leap into the air, the masked boy swiftly mimicked his movements, landing in front of Shin in the same position, blocking his path.  
  
"It would seem that I have no choice but to play your game for now." Shin rasped with a tone of annoyance.  
  
"I do not know what you are up to, Shin." Nagisa said as he slid his duel disk on. "But I cannot allow you to further sabotage our plans. Your treachery ends here."  
  
"If you say so." Shin replied, sliding his own duel disk on. He reached for the deck box and took out the same deck he used against Joey.  
  
"You think you can defeat me without your strongest deck?" Nagisa asked with a tone of mocking.  
  
After thinking for a while, Shin placed his initial deck back into his box and for the first time in a long time, removed the forbidden deck from his box. "Very well." Shin whispered under his trench coat. "Forgive me. . . sensei."  
  
Having placed a familiar explosive device within his dueling disk, and watching his opponent do the same, Nagisa placed his deck into his duel disk and activated his holographic projectors. "Finally, a worthy challenge." He whispered with a sinister smile. "Time for the fun to begin."  
  
"Yes." Shin agreed as he also activated his holographic projectors. "As the younger duelists say, it is time to duel!" 


	10. The Forbidden Deck

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 10: The Forbidden Deck  
  
"Draw your cards and begin the duel." Shin said to his opponent.  
  
Shin: 8000  
  
Nagisa: 8000  
  
'It will be difficult to defeat the traitor.' Nagisa thought to himself. 'Shin and I have dueled many times in the past. Though I've won the majority of these duels, I can tell that he was always holding back, not using his forbidden deck. Even so, with his weaker direct damage deck, he was a very tough opponent to beat. But I will prevail tonight, even if he uses his strongest cards. No one can beat me, I'll prove that tonight.'  
  
"Nagisa-sama. . ." The masked boy whispered as he took his place behind his comrade. "The outcome of this duel—"  
  
"I will be fine." Nagisa interrupted. He then turned his attention to his rival as he drew. "I am excited to duel against your forbidden deck. As for my opening move, I set a card face down in my magic/trap slot. I also summon one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn."  
  
'Shin thinks he has the advantage because he knows my deck whereas I do not know his.' Nagisa continued his thoughts. 'But to make the playing field more even, I've altered my strategy as well as the cards in my deck.'  
  
"I too shall set a monster in defense." Shin said as he placed his monster card onto his duel disk. "Furthermore, I play the magic card: Gravekeeper's Servant. Every time you attack now, you must send the top card of your deck to the graveyard. That ends my turn."  
  
"The Gravekeeper's Servant, a bothersome card." Nagisa commented. "I begin my turn by summoning the creature known as the Giant Red Seasnake (1800/800) in attack mode. I also switch my face down monster to attack mode." Two monsters appeared before Nagisa. "My face down monster was the Slate Warrior (1900/400). Once flipped, it activates its special effect, raising its own attack points by 500 for a total of 2400. Now, at the cost of one card because of your Gravekeeper's Servant, I attack your face down card with Giant Red Seansnake!" The powerful level 4 monster quickly slithered to the face down holographic card in front of Shin, attacking and destroying it. However, upon destruction, the face down monster revealed itself to be a large rodent creature.  
  
"You've destroyed my Giant Rat (1400/1450)." Shin informed. "Its special ability allows me to summon another rock type monster with an attack of 1500 or less. And I choose to summon another Giant Rat." Another large rodent materialized in place of the first one.  
  
"True." Nagisa said. "But the special effect forces you to summon your monster in attack mode, thus making your life points vulnerable to my attacks. So at the risk of sacrificing another card from my deck, I attack your Giant Rat with my Slate Warrior!" The powerful monster with an attack of 2400 rammed its fist onto the Giant Rat's hide, eliminating it from the field and lowering Shin's life points.  
  
"Once again I am allowed to summon a rock type monster in attack mode." Shin stated. "And I choose to summon the Millennium Shield (0/3000). Though it is summoned in attack mode, it is safe, seeing as how you have no more monsters to attack me with."  
  
"I see." Nagisa said with a wicked grin, getting even more excited as the duel progressed. "An effective strategy for an early defense against powerful monsters. In addition, you have managed to force me to discard two cards from my deck with your magic card. Very nicely played. I end my turn by placing one more card face down on my magic/trap slots."  
  
Shin: 7000  
  
Nagisa: 8000  
  
"I set one monster face down in defense and also change my Millennium Shield to defense mode." Shin said as another holographic card appeared in front of him. "This ends my turn."  
  
"I draw." Nagisa declared as he took a card into his hand. Seeing what he had just drawn, the loyal servant of the Dark Monarchs formed a maniacal smile on his face. "It looks like luck favors me at this time. I sacrifice both my monsters for the monster I just drew, Suijin (2500/2400)! I also play the magic card Fairy Meteor Strike on my powerful monster. Finally, I flip my face down trap cards: Robbin' Goblin and Magic Thorns. Being an experienced duelist, you should already be familiar with their effects."  
  
'The Robbin' Goblin and Magic Thorns combination is a common but effective strategy.' Shin thought to himself, being quite familiar with both trap cards. 'I've never seen him use it. He must have changed the cards in his deck to keep me off balance. With his new strategy, once he damages my life points, the Robbin' Goblin will allow him to choose a card from my hand and discard it. And because of the Magic Thorns, I lose 500 life points every time I discard something from my hand. I must quickly find a way to counter his traps. Fortunately, I have a card in my hand that can protect my life points from harm for this turn.'  
  
"Now, my Suijin, god of the water." Nagisa exclaimed. "Attack his face down monster!" Powerful waves generated from the water based monster's mouth and struck the face down holographic card, which revealed itself to be the Hiro's Shadow Scout.  
  
"Kuriboh, protect my life points from his Fairy Meteor Strike!" Shin ordered as he quickly inserted the weak but crucial monster card into his duel disk. As the water current attack flooded over the Hiro's Shadow Scout and towards Shin, the Kuriboh appeared in front of it, taking the attack in Shin's place. "And because you've attacked Hiro's Shadow Scout, you must draw three cards and discard any magic cards that you've drawn."  
  
"I am well aware of the Hiro's Shadow Scout's effect." Nagisa muttered as he drew three cards. He gritted his teeth as he saw two of them were magic cards which he must then discard to the graveyard. "I now end my turn."  
  
'His Suijin makes it difficult for me to summon my flip effect monsters without losing great amounts of life points.' Shin thought to himself as he drew his next card. 'But the cards in my current hand will not help me in any way, save this one.'  
  
"First, I play the magic card: Mystical Space Typhoon on your Magic Thorns trap card." Shin declared. Instantly, the holographic trap card was swallowed up by a giant typhoon. "Next, I play the magic card, Card Destruction." Both duelists were now forced to discard their hand and draw new cards. Shin reviewed his newly drawn cards, satisfied with what his deck had just provided him with. "I now summon a monster face down in defense mode. Lastly, I play another one of my Gravekeeper's Servants and end my turn." Another holographic magic card displaying the Gravekeeper's Servant materialized, giving Shin a total of two.  
  
'I've managed to destroy his Magic Thorns, thus allowing me to play my Card Destruction without costing me life points. But Robbin' Goblin, the more dangerous of his traps, is still on the field, as is his Fairy Meteor Strike magic card. However, I have no more cards in my hand, so I need not worry about the effects of Robbin' Goblin for now.'  
  
"More of that bothersome card." Nagisa whispered to himself. "But no matter. With my Suijin already on the field, I already have all that I need to win. I set one monster face down in defense mode. Now, Suijin, attack his face down card and do further damage to his life points!" As Nagisa discarded two cards from his deck, the powerful water god released another tidal wave at the face down card, destroying it with ease.  
  
"Morphing Jar (700/600), activate your effect!" Shin shouted. The one eyed monster housed in a dark jar appeared and struck both Shin and Nagisa's hands before it destructed. Both duelists discard what was left of their hands and drew five cards from their decks.  
  
Shin: 5100  
  
Nagisa: 8000  
  
"My hand was a small price to pay for such damage unto your life points." Nagisa stated. "My turn ends."  
  
"And mine begins." Shin said as he drew. Had anyone been able to see through the collar of his trench coat, they might have noticed a sense of disappointment on his face of his hand. "I set one card face down on my magic/trap slot and end my turn."  
  
"A trap?" Nagisa asked with a chuckle. "That will not save you, Shin. Not when I have a card in my hand to dismantle it. I play the magic card, Remove Trap on your face down card." Instantly, the face down card that Shin had just placed on the field disappeared, leaving Shin with only his Millennium Shield to defend him, but even that would not protect him for long. "I flip my face down monster, Penguin Soldier (750/500)! It allows me to return my opponents monsters back into their hand. And I choose to use that effect on your Millennium Shield."  
  
Though his face did not show it, Shin was very doubtful that he could walk from this duel alive, now that he had nothing to defend him from Nagisa's attacks. He let out a small grunt of disappointment as he retrieved his Millennium Shield from his duel disk.  
  
"Now, I sacrifice my weaker Penguin Soldier for the Deepsea Warrior (1600/1800) in attack mode." Nagisa continued. An amphibious warrior with a shielded face mask materialized by Suijin's side. "I also play the magic card: Umi, to cover the field with water, increasing the Attack Points of Suijin." As the magic card activated, water flooded over the rooftops, making it seem as if the duel was held on top of a giant swimming pool.  
  
'Umi, Suijin, Deepsea Warrior, Penguin Soldier, and Giant Red Seasnake.' Shin reviewed his opponent's cards. 'A water based deck. Usually, water based decks are created to deal great amounts of damage early in the game, seeing as how their higher leveled monsters include the more powerful creatures of all duel monster cards, some of which have immunities to magic cards. Combining them with Fairy Meteor Strike and Robbin' Goblin makes them all the more dangerous.'  
  
"Suijin and Deepsea Warrior, attack his life points directly!" The water duelist ordered as he discarded four cards from his deck, obeying the rules of Gravekeeper's Servant. Both monsters launched their attacks successfully, directly hitting Shin and greatly reducing his life points. In addition to the damage, Shin discarded two cards from his hand due to Nagisa's trap card.  
  
Shin: 800  
  
Nagisa: 8000  
  
"Is this all that your forbidden deck can muster?" Nagisa asked, hungry for more battle. "This duel has gone by too quickly. I'm saddened that I could not prolong your agony."  
  
"Allow me to assist your bloodlust." Shin said as he took his turn. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light to stop your monsters for three turns. I'll also end my turn by summoning a monster face down in defense."  
  
"Excellent." Nagisa shouted, excited that the duel would last longer. "The more you stall, the more you will feel the suffering of defeat. I can do nothing against your swords so I'll summon a monster face down in defense and end my turn."  
  
"I summon another face down monster in defense." Shin said. "That will be all."  
  
"I sacrifice my monster in defense to summon the great Amphibious Beast (2400/200) in attack mode." Nagisa announced. "Two turns left."  
  
"I summon another monster face down." Shin declared. "I also set a card face down on my magic and trap slots. That ends my turn.  
  
Nagisa drew his next card and developed a frown on his face. "I can still do nothing against your swords, so I pass this turn. But this is your last move before I can attack again." As Nagisa ended his turn, the Swords of Revealing Light dissipated from the field, allowing his monsters to attack freely.  
  
"This move will be enough to place myself at an advantage." Shin said as he drew his card. "First, I flip two of my face down monsters: Magician of Faith (300/400) and Needle Worm (750/600). Magician of Faith allows me to return a magic card to my hand, and I choose Card Destruction. Needle Worm forces you to discard five cards from your deck to the graveyard."  
  
"No matter." Nagisa stated as he placed five cards from his deck to the graveyard. "My most power water creatures are already on the field, safe from your discarding effects."  
  
"Not for long." Shin whispered as he flipped his last monster on the field. "I also flip my Cyber Jar (900/900)!"  
  
Nagisa gritted his teeth in anger. "Cyber Jar's effect destroys all monsters on the field and forces me to draw five cards, summoning whatever monster I can. Very well, I draw my five cards and summon the 7 Colored Fish (1800/800) and my Aqua Mador (1200/2000) face down in defense."  
  
"And I summon a Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000) in defense mode, a Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) in defense mode, and a Cannon Soldier (1400/1300) in attack mode." Shin said as he placed his three monsters on the field. "Now, I play Card Destruction. Both duelists must once again discard their hand and draw new cards."  
  
Nagisa did as he was told. As he looked at his hand, a small grin appeared on his face. "This will be the end of you." He muttered under his breath.  
  
"Next, I activate my Cannon Soldier's special effect, allowing me to sacrifice my monsters to deal 500 damage to your life points. And I sacrifice all my monsters!" Shin continued. The three monsters in front of shin started to disintegrate into nothing. Right before the Cannon Soldier fully vanished, it released a giant flow of energy which bypassed Nagisa's monsters and hit him directly.  
  
Shin: 800  
  
Nagisa: 6500  
  
"My turn isn't over yet." Shin informed as he placed a magic card in his duel disk. "First I play the magic card, Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and discard two. Next, I'll play the Cheerful Coffin, which allows me to discard three monsters from my hand to the graveyard."  
  
"Why would you do that?" Nagisa asked.  
  
"You'll see." Shin taunted. "I use yet another the magic card, Change of Heart, on your Aqua Mador. Now that it is mine to use, I sacrifice it for the most powerful monster in this deck, one of unparalleled power."  
  
"Your most powerful monster?" Nagisa asked. "For a single monster tribute? What level five or six monster can be so powerful?"  
  
"This one." Shin said, placing his prized card onto his duel disk. "I summon. . . Shadow Ghoul (1600/1300)!" As the turned water monster disappeared, a monstrous creature of the dead rose in its place, howling as it made its appearance onto the field. Instantly, as the Shadow Ghoul fully materialized, its size began to grow rapidly.  
  
"The Shadow Ghoul?" Nagisa gasped, quite familiar with its effect. "It gains a 100 attack point bonus for each monster in his graveyard, but that gives him—"  
  
"A total of 4100 attack points, but that's not all." Shin said as he pressed a button on his duel disk to trigger his face down card. "I now activate my face down trap: Deal of Phantom."  
  
"What does that do?" Nagisa asked. His eyes widened as the Shadow Ghoul grew even larger. "Your Shadow Ghoul. . ."  
  
"The Deal of Phantom's effect is similar to the one Shadow Ghoul possesses." Shin explained. The Shadow Ghoul's size had increased so much that it seemed to tower over the entire field now. "For every monster in the graveyard, the equipped monster gains an additional 100 attack points for this turn, giving my Shadow Ghoul an impressive attack strength of 6600."  
  
"6600?" Nagisa wheezed in shock. "That's impossible!"  
  
"Shadow Ghoul, attack his 7 Colored Fish." Shin ordered. The monstrous green creature released its ghastly wave of death, shattering the holographic fish with overpowering strength.  
  
Shin: 800  
  
Nagisa: 1700  
  
As the attack faded, Shin looked at his rival, expecting a defeated face. But Nagisa showed no signs of discouragement. Instead, he let out a maniacal laugh. "Your monster may be strong, but it has little power over this!" Nagisa roared as he inserted a card onto his duel disk. "I activate Monster Reborn on my Suijin! Suijin too has a special effect: when a monster attacks it, I can automatically reduce that monster's attack points to zero once per duel. It is the perfect defense against your overpowered monster!"  
  
Shin didn't even twitch as the water god reappeared on the field. Instead, he stood confidently by his Shadow Ghoul, who had reduced back onto its regular, but still increased, size.  
  
"I set a card down and end my turn." Nagisa said. "I wonder how your forbidden deck will deal with Suijin's absolute defense against high powered monsters."  
  
"I do not have to do anything." Shin informed. "Apparently, you didn't notice something when you drew your card last turn."  
  
"Notice what?" Nagisa asked as he looked at his duel disk. As he looked at where his deck was placed, he gasped. "My cards!" Instead of finding his deck, he found an empty space.  
  
"Correct." Shin rasped. "Your previous move was your last turn, seeing as how you had just drawn the last card in your deck."  
  
"So that is the strategy of the forbidden deck." Nagisa stated. "It was your plan all along to discard not only your monsters to power up Shadow Ghoul, but my cards as well. Hiro's Shadow Scout, Morphing Jar, Cyber Jar, Gravekeeper's Servant, Card Destruction, Needle Worm, and even Swords of Revealing Light to prolong the duel and pass by additional draw phases. All of them used to deplete my deck of cards, winning the duel for you."  
  
"Indeed." Shin nodded as he started his draw phase. "All I have to do now is draw, and end my turn. Which I do now—"  
  
"Not so fast!" Nagisa shouted, still full of vigor. "During your draw phase, I'm allowed to activate my face down card!"  
  
"Your face down card?" Shin asked. "A trap?"  
  
Nagisa let out another savage roar. "If I can't win this duel, then I might as well drag you down with me! I activate Bell of Destruction!"  
  
"No!" Shin gasped. "That'll deal direct damage to both of us!"  
  
"Bell of Destruction, attach onto the Shadow Ghoul and wipe us both out!" The bloodthirsty duelist ordered. As he shouted his command, the trap card let out a holographic ring of bells which surrounded the Shadow Ghoul's neck, exploding and destroying the monster. Shin widened his eyes as his life points counter reached zero along with the Nagisa's counter.  
  
"The explosives on our duel disks. . ." Shin gasped. "They're triggered!"  
  
With those words, Shin quickly took off the straps to his duel disk, but it was too late. Two explosions rung off in front of their respective duelists, blowing both of them off of their feet. 


	11. Interlude II

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 11: Interlude II  
  
"This dream again. . ." Sakura whispered as she stared at the large ancient temple before her. "Why do I keep dreaming of the same place?" Suddenly, the floor below her feet began to violently shake.  
  
"Priestess!" A man shouted. Sakura recognized him to be the same spiky haired pharaoh in her previous dreams. "This is too dangerous!" He warned.  
  
"I will not run from this rebellion." The priestess replied as she entered the temple. "Sebek, the leader of this mutiny, will fall under my powers once and for all. His sins will be accounted for!"  
  
"You are right." The pharaoh agreed as he let out a small sigh. "We must stop him, but I fear for your safety."  
  
"Fear not, my pharaoh." A large man shrouded in cloths rasped as he took his place by the priestess's side. "She will not be harmed."  
  
"This is Kah'zeh, my bodyguard." The priestess introduced. "He will protect me from all of Sebek's dark magic."  
  
Sakura watched as the three figures headed towards the inner temples. Instantly, they were surrounded by magnitudes of men clothed in dark robes, all who wore the emblem of a flaming crown.  
  
"That's the same symbol as the tattoo on those Dark Monarch guys!" Sakura noticed. "Why are they here?"  
  
Suddenly, a giant stone tablet appeared in front of the pharaoh. From the carvings of the tablet, a creature that had an uncanny resemblance to the Dark Magician stepped out and defended the pharaoh. Another tablet rose in front of the priestess, this one emitting a Dark Magician Girl. Finally, one last tablet stood before the bodyguard, Kah'zeh. A gruesome creature crept out, letting out a terrifying howl.  
  
"That's. . ." Sakura started to stutter as she recognized the monster. "That's the Shadow Ghoul. . ."  
  
----------  
  
Sakura's Bedroom  
  
Sakura opened her eyes, a bit scared to go back to sleep. She looked at her clock, which struck 3:57.  
  
"Sebek. . ." Sakura whispered as she sat up from her bed. "Is that the name of the guy who's behind all this Dark Monarch stuff?"  
  
She recalled another factor of her odd dream.  
  
"The Shadow Ghoul. . ." She whispered. "That was Kazeyama-sensei's favorite card. Does he have anything to do with this? I wonder where he is right now."  
  
----------  
  
Ryo's bedroom.  
  
"ZZZzzzzzz." Ryo's snore rivaled Joey's in loudness and rapidness. "Of course I'll go out with you, Sakura." He also talked in his sleep. "No need to fight girls, there's super plenty of Ryo to go around! ZZZzzzzzz." Much like Joey's, his dreams were of unlikely scenarios.  
  
----------  
  
4:32, city rooftops.  
  
Shin groaned as he managed to open his eyes, only to involuntarily wince in pain. His body was definitely not doing well, seeing as it had lost much of its blood due to being caught not only in a single, but two explosions in one night.  
  
"Clothes, act. . . as armor. . . lucky." Shin grunted to himself as he tried to stand upright. Leaning on a chimney, he managed place his weight back onto his feet. He noticed a trail of red stains that led far away from the building.  
  
"Nagisa's already gone." He noted. "His masked apprentice. . . probably took his body. Wonder if Nagisa's *cough* still alive. Should probably. . . see where they went *cough*." But despite his instinct to pursue the two servants of the Dark Monarch, Shin decided that he should seek medical attention for himself first. Having regained stability, the shrouded duelist took what was left of his duel disk and headed for his residence, where he would properly care for his many injuries.  
  
----------  
  
4:32 Elsewhere.  
  
"Nagisa-sama." The masked duelist softly called to his bleeding master as he laid him down on the bed before him. "Are you feeling better?"  
  
The bloodthirsty servant of the Dark Monarch opened his eyes and glanced at his apprentice. "My chest. . ." He gritted as he tried to raise his body.  
  
"Please do not try to move." The masked boy said as he placed his hand onto his master's chest. "You have not fully healed."  
  
"Yuki." Nagisa called out to the boy as he rested his body back onto the bed. "The bandages on my chest, they restraint my movements."  
  
The apprentice took off his mask, revealing the innocent face of a pale skinned boy with a soft smile. "That's because I made them so." Yuki replied. "I knew you would try to move despite what I say, so I made sure that you can't until your muscles regain their strength."  
  
"You're annoying, but intelligent and cunning." Nagisa sighed. "That is the reason why I keep you around."  
  
The boy smiled at his master and nodded, blushing a bit. However, his face turned impassive as he sensed the presence of another entering the room. A dark figure neared the two servants as he passed through the door.  
  
"Master Sebek. . ." The first servant greeted.  
  
"Nagisa, my loyal servant." The dark figure boomed. "It is unfortunate enough for my plans that Shin has been deemed a traitor, but now you disobey my orders to silence the pharaoh and attempt to take the traitor matters in your own hands? In addition, Nagisa, you failed to defeat him in a duel? You incompetent idiot!"  
  
As the insult left Sebek's mouth, he instantly found his arm locked to his back, held by his servant's apprentice. The boy had also pulled a dagger out and held it parallel to Sebek's neck. "Do NOT insult Nagisa-sama!" The boy threatened as he locked Sebek's arm even tighter in the back.  
  
"Unhand me, boy." Sebek ordered. The apprentice did not move an inch.  
  
"Yuki!" Nagisa called out. "Stand down."  
  
The boy looked at his bandaged master, and released his hold on Sebek. He then took his place by the bed once again.  
  
"Teach the boy who his true master is." Sebek ordered to Nagisa as he headed for the door. "Instruct some respect in him, or our deal is forfeit."  
  
As the head of the Dark Monarchs left the room, Yuki bowed his head down. "I know he is not our enemy yet, but I cannot bear to hear anyone insult my master."  
  
Nagisa looked at his young apprentice, lifted his hand to the boy's hair and gave him a small nod of approval. "Good tool." 


	12. Someone Precious

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 12: Someone Precious  
  
"No sleep. . ." Sakura yawned as she continued strolling on the sidewalk. "Stupid dream, how the hell am I supposed to get any sleep if I keep waking up in the middle of the night?"  
  
After walking some more, Sakura found herself stopping in front of the very same café where she had met Shin. Deciding to take a break, the drowsy duelist took a seat on one of the empty tables and rested her head in her arms.  
  
"Shin. . . he's one of them." She whispered to herself. "Why? Why did he help me? He must have been following me and Yugi, just to spy on us. That must be it. After all, he led us to the docks that night when Joey was kidnapped and where we got ambushed. I can't believe I gave him any hospitality, that bastard." After mumbling a few more angry words, the tired duelist drifted off to sleep.  
  
When she finally woke, the morning had already passed. What once was a nearly empty café was now crowded with people. But the crowded noise was not what woke Sakura up. As she opened her eyes, she found that someone had taken a seat across from her. It was a boy, maybe only slightly older than she was, who was sipping tea with a soft smile and his eyes closed.  
  
"Huh?" Sakura muttered, still a bit drowsy from sleep. The boy turned to look at her.  
  
"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" The boy politely asked, his smile turning into a concerned frown. "The other tables were full, and this was the only seat left. Do you mind if I sit here?"  
  
"Sure." Sakura murmured as she rubbed her eyes. Getting a clearer view of the boy, she saw that his face was strikingly attractive. "Oh, I mean. . ." She suddenly gasped with a bit of a blush. "No, I don't mind."  
  
The boy's smile returned. 'He looks cute.' Sakura thought to herself, her face reddening a bit. 'His smile is so innocent.'  
  
"You shouldn't sleep here." The boy warned, his soft smile still apparent with his calm face. "People can easily steal your belongings if you're not careful."  
  
"Oh, I didn't think about that." Sakura gasped as she laid her deck in front of her, frantically checking if anything was missing. "Man, I'm lucky no one stole any of my cards."  
  
"Are you a duelist?" The boy asked.  
  
"You bet I am!" Sakura exclaimed with a clenched fist in front of her. "In fact, I'm going around the city this afternoon to look for some tough dueling challenges. So I can get stronger by experience!"  
  
The boy glanced at her many duel monster cards. "You look strong already." He commented.  
  
"But I'm going to be stronger." Sakura said. "I'm going to become one of the strongest duelists in the world one day. That's my dream. So I have to duel more to gain more experience and grow stronger."  
  
"Why do you want to grow stronger?" The boy asked.  
  
"Huh?" Sakura replied with a puzzled face. "I want to become a better duelist, that's all. It would honor my sensei if I showed him that I became a great duelist. And if I grow stronger, I can help my Yugi and his friends out when they're in danger."  
  
"So. . ." The boy said, his soft voice growing calmer. "Do you duel for others, or for yourself?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. The boy let out a small, innocent giggle. "What's so funny?"  
  
"Do you have someone precious to duel for?" The boy asked. The smile had disappeared from his face.  
  
"What are you trying to say?" Sakura asked, not understanding why the boy was asking her so many questions. But the boy didn't respond. Instead, he appeared to be caught in his thoughts. His face looked almost nostalgic, as if he was recalling something far in the past.  
  
-----FLASHBACK------  
  
He sat on the cold sidewalk with nothing but a ragged shirt and a blanket that he found in a dumpster, a boy, no older than 8 or 9 years of age. It was snowing, that was the only thing the boy noticed; it seemed to always snow in the city nowadays. But the cold of the snow didn't bother the boy. No freezing temperature could match the torture of the boy's cold heart.  
  
As he shivered, his body began to give from lack of food and warmth. His eyes began to dim; he had no more tears to shed. 'These eyes.' he thought to himself. 'These eyes that could see what cannot be seen, useless now. No one needs them, no one needs me.' The boy waited for death to overcome him, thinking it was for the best.  
  
A shadow appeared over him. The boy turned around to look at the man who towered over him; he looked at the man's face. His eyes were greeted with a menacing stare, almost blood chilling. But the boy was not scared, nor was the man ominous. In fact, his eyes seemed accepting, like a teacher's. The man who would become his idol, his sensei, his master. The man named Nagisa.  
  
And for the first time in months, the boy felt warm.  
  
-----END OF FLASHBACK-----  
  
Sakura looked at the boy, who had not moved for a minute now. Suddenly, she found him staring into her eyes. "What?" Sakura asked, blushing a bit at the eyes of this attractive stranger.  
  
"When you have someone precious. . ." The boy began. "Someone worth protecting, worth dueling for with your life, that is when you can truly become strong."  
  
"Someone worth dueling for?" Sakura asked, not fully understanding the boy. She thought for a bit about her main reasons for dueling. It was for her sensei, to make him proud. And her newfound friends, whom she duels to protect. "Yeah, I think I understand what you mean."  
  
"You will become strong." The boy stated, his smile returning. Then he stood from his chair and headed out of the café. "I must go now, I hope we will meet again."  
  
"I do too." Sakura said as she waved good-bye. Suddenly realizing that she didn't know the boy's name, she called out to him. "By the way, what's your name?"  
  
"Yuki." The boy answered as he disappeared into the city. Sakura found herself staring at the direction where Yuki had left. Her stare did not last long, as it was interrupted by a loud boastful voice.  
  
"Super entrance!" A familiar boy shouted as he appeared behind Sakura.  
  
"Ack!" The startled duelist screamed. "Don't do that! What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
"I just wanted to say hi." Ryo answered as he turned towards the direction where Sakura had been staring at. "So who was that guy that I saw you with?" He asked with a tone of accusation in his voice.  
  
"Everything you're not." Sakura scoffed.  
  
"Oh yeah?" Ryo asked with his fists clenched. "What's he got that I don't?"  
  
"Looks, charm, politeness, eyes like an angel, shall I go on?" Sakura said with a dreamy look on her face. "And the ability to greet himself without making a loud and stupid entrance is a bonus."  
  
"Grrr." Ryo growled in anger, but then returned to his boastful state. "But I bet he's not half the duelist I am."  
  
"I don't know if he's a duelist." Sakura said. "But if he was, I'd bet he could kick your ass. I haven't even seen you duel, so for all I know, you could be a complete rookie."  
  
"Fine, I'll show you." Ryo boasted as he strapped on his duel disk. "I challenge you to a duel!"  
  
"You're on, Ryo!" Sakura shouted, accepting the challenge. But before they could start their duel, they were interrupted by two bald men who stepped in between them. The young duelists instantly recognized the black robes the two men were wearing. They were obviously members of the Dark Monarchs.  
  
"Hey, we're trying to have a duel here!" Ryo shouted in frustration.  
  
"Our interruption, you must excuse." The first bald man said.  
  
"But we have an offer, you can't refuse." The second man rhymed. "We come here not without explanation."  
  
"For we have here an invitation. . ." The first man continued.  
  
"To a duel against the two of us."  
  
"So accept our challenge without a fuss."  
  
"Another two on two duel?" Sakura asked, all fired up with excitement. "Alright, I'll play with you guys for a while."  
  
"What?!" Ryo shouted. "Wait a minute; we were just about to duel ourselves. Why do we have to go against these guys?"  
  
"Because these guys are the same guys that kidnapped Joey." Sakura explained as she turned her attention to the two bald men. "And I'm going get revenge for that. Come on, Ryo. Let's hurry up and take these guys out."  
  
"Hey! Why do I have to participate in this?" Ryo asked.  
  
"Ryo." Sakura said in her sweetest voice, putting on her cutest face. "I would really like to see your great dueling skills. Pretty please?" That did it; Ryo's face was as red as a rose. All he could do was give a faint nod of his head. "I'll take that as an 'okay'." Sakura said as she prepared her duel disk. "Alright, you freaks. I was getting bored anyways. So let's duel."  
  
"A great mistake you've made today." The first bald man said.  
  
"For our master, we'll make you pay." The second man rhymed.  
  
"We're excited to see your skills." The first man said as he leapt into the air, spinning.  
  
"To see of what your decks concocts." The second man continued as he joined his comrade in the air.  
  
The two landed with perfect unison as together they finished their statements. "But beware, for now you will face the brothers Paradox!" 


	13. Double Duel II, Super Monster!

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 13: Double Duel II, Super Monster!

"Paradox brothers?" Sakura asked, recognizing the name. "I've heard of these two before, Yugi told me about how you two were eliminators employed by Pegasus during Duelist Kingdom. I wonder why they're working for the Dark Monarchs now."

"True, for Pegasus we once worked for." Para said.

"But now that Pegasus is no more." Dox rhymed.

"We now make up our new clan's core."

"As Dark Monarchs members five and four!"

"Do you two ever stop rhyming?" Ryo asked impatiently. "Let's get on with the duel already."

The two brothers took out their duel disks, but before activating them, they stared and grinned at their two opponents. "Before we begin the duel." Para began. "You must first hear our rules."

"Because with larger risks we play." Dox continued. "The losers will be in much dismay."

"The Dark Monarchs play with bigger stakes." Sakura whispered to herself as she remembered her first encounter with the robed clan members. "Explosive devices? Not again."

"Explosive grenades will not be used." Para assured. "But the losers will not be excused."

"Instead, they will have to pay." Dox started to explain. "The deck that they have used to play."

"Risk our decks?" Sakura asked as she inserted hers into the duel disk. "Fine, I agree to your terms."

"As do I." Ryo concurred as he did the same. "Though I don't need new cards, it'll be fun to show you guys the greatness of my deck." He turned his head towards Sakura, giving her a wink. "Don't worry, I'm super strong. I'll make sure you're impressed."

"Sure, Ryo." Sakura responded with a tone of skepticism. "Just don't slow me down. Chatting time is over, let's duel!" Four sets of holographic projectors shot out across the streets as the four duelists took their positions at the sides of their partners.

**Sakura**: 8000

**Ryo**: 8000

**Para**: 8000

**Dox**: 8000

"I will go first to start the show." Para said as he played his first card. "This card will surely frighten our foes. I play **Sangan (1000/600)** in attack mode!"

"Great, it's the three eyed Kuriboh look alike." Sakura scoffed as she drew her card. "Alright, I'll play **Gemini Elf (1900/900)** in attack mode." Two holographic women appeared on the field. "I can't attack right now because of the double duel rules, but I can still destroy your monster with this card. I play **Tribute to the Doom**!" As Sakura discarded a monster from her hand, mummifying bandages wrapped around Sangan and dragged it to the graveyard. "Now you two have no defenses."

"Destroying Sangan was a great mistake." Para informed. "For now, a card from my deck I take. And I choose Cannon Soldier!"

"Right, I forgot." Sakura sighed as she slapped her forehead. "Sangan's special ability allows him to draw a monster from his deck with an attack power of up to 1500 when it is sent to the graveyard."

'But it doesn't matter.' Sakura thought to herself. 'I played Tribute to the Doom because I wanted to discard my Dark Magician to power up my Dark Magician Girl in advance. All I have to do now is draw my favorite monster.'

"Now it is my turn to go." Dox announced. "Against her monster, our defenses are low. But that is why I play this card, to send a monster to the card graveyard. Activate, **Foolish Burial**!" Upon playing his magic card, Dox searched through his deck, discarding one of his monsters.

"Why would you play that?" Sakura asked. "It destroys one of your own monsters."

"The Foolish Burial you shouldn't scorn." Dox explained as he played another magic card. "It's not so useless with **Monster Reborn**! From the graveyard now I call." A giant set of complex walls now separated the four duelists. "Onto the field, **the Labyrinth Wall (0/3000)**!"

"Finally, it's my turn!" Ryo shouted in excitement, not fazed at all by the great defenses of the Paradox brothers' monster. "I'll play this super magic card, **Infinite Cards**! And I'll follow up with the magic card, **Pot of Greed**. Now I can draw two cards! I end my turn by playing two cards face down."

"Ryo!" Sakura screamed in distress. "You didn't even play a monster! Are you trying to lose?!"

"Don't worry about it; I don't need to play a monster yet." Ryo assured. "My deck is super strong and won't fail me."

----------

End of Turn 1

**Sakura**: 8000 (Gemini Elf in attack mode)

**Ryo**: 8000 (Infinite Cards, 2 cards face down)

**Para**: 8000 (nothing)

**Dox**: 8000 (Labyrinth Wall in defense mode)

----------

"Again, my turn to take the stage." Para said as he started his turn. "And I start with the **Fusion Sage**." Activating his magic card, he searched through his deck to look for the magic card Polymerization. "Now I play the card I drew. **Polymerization**, make one from two!"

"Polymerization?" Sakura asked. "What's he going to fuse from his hand?"

As if to answer her question, a loud rumbling sound emanated from the labyrinth floor. From the sound came a large vehicle with numerous drills sticking out of it. "**Labyrinth Tank (2400/2400)**!" Para called out as he pointed to the Gemini Elf in front of Sakura. "Attack her monster!" Upon his order, the giant tank launched its many drills at the Gemini Elf, destroying it with ease.

"Alright, my turn now." Sakura announced, unfazed by the destruction of her monster. "I'll play a monster face down in defense mode and set another card face down. That ends my turn."

"To defeat them with my current hand would surely be hard." Dox said as looked at his cards and started his turn. "So I play **Graceful Charity** to increase my cards." Playing his magic card, he drew three cards from his deck and discarded two.

"Alright, I was waiting for something like that!" Ryo suddenly shouted with excitement. "I can now activate my two trap cards: **Appropriate** and **Solemn Wishes**!" Activating his trap, Ryo drew two cards from his deck. His life points then suddenly increased by 1000. "Appropriate allows me to draw two cards every time you draw out of your draw phase, and Solemn Wishes increases my life points by 500 for every card I draw." He explained.

"Your cheer will be short termed." Dox declared as he played his monster. "For now I summon **Giant Germ (1000/100)**!" A blob-like creature materialized within the labyrinth walls. "Because in attack points my Giant Germ is lacking, I'll end my turn without attacking."

"So it's my turn and I draw." Ryo said with a smile. "And increase my life points by another 500 because of my Solemn Wishes trap card."

"Who cares about your life points!" Sakura shouted in distress. "Play a monster!" Though it was true that Sakura worried about Ryo's lack of defense, the real reason she wanted him to summon a monster was because she was anxious to see what sort of deck Ryo had.

"Alright, I'll summon the **Bistro Butcher** **(1800/1000)** in attack mode then." Ryo said as he played his monster onto the duel disk. "Bistro Butcher attack Dox's Giant Germ!"

"Ryo, wait!" Sakura warned, but it was too late. The muscular monster that had just appeared onto the field leapt at the blob-like creature, slashing its cleaving knives across the midsection and destroying it. But just as soon as the Giant Germ was destroyed, another appeared onto the field. "Don't you know the Giant Germ's special effect? It causes 500 direct damage to your life points once it's destroyed and summons a second Giant Germ onto the field."

"How true." Dox confirmed. "And I draw two cards because your attack went through."

Just as Dox drew from his deck, Ryo also drew two cards with a smile. "500 damage is okay, because I caused him to draw." Ryo said happily. "And because of Appropriate, I can draw two cards too! And my super trap card, Solemn Wishes, activates when I draw, giving me 1000 life points to make up for the 500 that I've lost. I end my turn now."

----------

End of Turn 2

**Sakura**: 7500 (1 monster face down in defense mode, 1 card face down)

**Ryo**: 10000 (Bistro Butcher in attack mode, Infinite Cards, Appropriate, Solemn Wishes)

**Para**: 8000 (Labyrinth Tank in attack mode)

**Dox**: 7200 (Labyrinth Wall in defense mode, Giant Germ in attack mode)

----------

Para drew as his turn started. Looking at the card he had just drawn, a wide smile appeared onto his face. "Brother, the time comes near." Para told his partner. "Time to put these fools in fear. I play **Change of Heart**!" Playing his magic card, the face down monster that was once Sakura's now belonged to Para.

"This is the last of your dueling days." Dox cried.

"Indeed, for now I have two monsters in play." Para continued. "I sacrifice them for an unbeatable monster, the ultimate god called **Sanga of Thunder (2600/2200)**!" Upon the summoning words of its master, the lightning god monster rose onto the field. "Sanga, attack her life points directly!"

'Sanga of Thunder?' Sakura thought to herself as she watched the lightning god monster unleash a large forked lightning bolt at her. 'With an attack power of 2600, that'll reduce my life points by a lot!'

But the lightning bolt never touched the young female duelist.

"Bistro Butcher, defend her!" Ryo quickly ordered as he sent his own monster to take the thunderous blast. Being struck by Sanga's attack instead of Sakura, the Bistro Butcher let out a cry of defeat as it shattered into pieces. Ryo let out a small yelp of pain as the turned attack struck him through his monster.

"Ryo!" Sakura cried out as his monster dissipated into the ground, lowering its master's life points. "Your monster!"

"It's okay." Ryo said as he recomposed himself. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine." Sakura shouted. "You've lost your only monster on the board. Without monsters to tribute, you can't summon high leveled monsters to defeat their Sanga of Thunder."

"Don't worry." Ryo assured.

'In truth, I have no level five or higher monsters in my deck to tribute.' Ryo thought as he reviewed all the cards in his deck mentally. 'Bistro Butcher was my highest level monster. All the others are either also level four or less, the majority being level three. But that's also the reason we can win!'

"I've got many life points to spare." Ryo said as he flashed a smile at Sakura. "I'm just super glad that you're okay."

There was a long pause of silence between the two duelists. "Thank you." Sakura finally whispered. "Alright, you freaks. First I'll normal summon my **Sonic Bird (1400/1000)** in attack mode so I can draw a ritual card, which I play now. Go **Ritual of Black Chaos**! Sacrifice a Magician of Black Chaos from my hand to summon the other **Magician of Black Chaos (2800/2600)** in attack mode!"

"Sakura, hold on!" Ryo warned as he realized that the Paradox brothers were not worried at all.

"Magician of Black Chaos, attack his Sanga of Thunder!" Sakura ordered, unheeding Ryo's shout. As the Magician of Black Chaos neared the Sanga of Thunder, its magical glow started to diminish.

"Sanga of Thunder's effect, activate!" Para declared. "Show the Black Chaos Magician its fate!" Suddenly, the Magician of Black Chaos's speed slowed dramatically as the attack became weakened. Being no match for the great thunder god, Sanga, it quickly perished to the lightning counterattack that Sanga unleashed.

"What happened?" Sakura cried in confusion as her own life points plunged by 2600. "Magician of Black Chaos's attack power is greater than Sanga's though."

"Sanga has the super ability to lower an attack of one monster to zero once per game." Ryo explained.

"Damn." The female duelist cursed at her own carelessness. "Fine, I'll use my face down card right now. Activate **Ultimate Offering**! This allows me to summon extra monsters at the cost of 500 life points per summon. So I'll summon a face down monster in defense mode now and end my turn." As the monster set itself onto the field, Sakura's life points decreased further by 500.

"When will these fools ever learn." Para smirked.

"I'll show them their flaws, for now it's my turn." Dox replied as he drew. "Ultimate Offering can be used by _all_ players, fool. That mistake will cost you the duel. I first summon three monsters onto the field, giving me five." Having summoned two extra monsters, Dox's life points decreased by 1000. "My next attack you will not survive! For I sacrifice all but my Labyrinth Wall to summon two more creatures of divinity. **Suijin (2500/2400)** and **Kazejin** **(2400/2200)**, complete the Gate Guardian trinity!"

"They have all three pieces onto the field!" Sakura gasped. "Once they draw the Gate Guardian, they'll be able to summon it by sacrificing their monsters!"

"How correct you are, but my turn isn't over by far." Dox said. "Kazejin, attack her face down monster!" Inhaling a huge breath, the wind god monster unleashed a large gust of tornados headed for Sakura's face down monster, quickly wiping it out of the field.

"Your turn will be over sooner than you think." Sakura declared as she revealed her face down monster. "When **The Unhappy Maiden (0/100)** is destroyed, your battle phase automatically ends."

"So it's my turn." Ryo said as he drew his card, increasing his life points again by 500.

"You have to stop them from summoning the Gate Guardian, Ryo!" Sakura shouted.

"I know that." Ryo said, anxious to make his play. "And it's about time that I drew this too. I play the single most super card in my deck, **Muka Muka (600/300)**" A small monster that somewhat resembled a small rock with claws appeared onto the field in front of Ryo.

"Eh, that's your most powerful card?" Sakura asked, developing a giant sweat drop on her forehead. "That thing is almost as weak as Kuriboh!"

"Look again." Ryo said with a smirk. Suddenly, the rock-like monster started to grow, dramatically increasing its attack points. "Muka Muka has the special effect of gaining 300 attack points for every card in my hand. And because I now hold eight cards, its attack power is a super 3000 now. So now, Muka Muka, attack the Sanga of Thunder! And because Para already used its special effect, he can't use it again." Now grown into a giant lumbering clawed rock, the Muka Muka lunged at the lightning monster and instantly smashed it to pieces with its giant front claws.

"Awesome, Ryo!" Sakura cheered. "Now they can't summon the Gate Guardian."

"I'll end my turn by playing a card face down, even though it will lower my Muka Muka's attack points." Ryo said as his favorite monster's power lowered to 2700. 'Even though my super Muka Muka still has more attack points than Suijin and Kazejin, they still have their special effects at Dox's disposal and can beat my Muka Muka if I attack them.'

----------

End of Turn 3

**Sakura**: 4400 (Ultimate Offering)

**Ryo**: 9700 (Muka Muka in attack mode, Infinite Cards, Appropriate, Solemn Wishes, 1 card face down)

**Para**: 7600 (nothing)

**Dox**: 5200 (Labyrinth in defense mode, Suijin in attack mode, Kazejin in attack mode)

----------

"Sanga was defeated to our dismay, but I will bring it back into play." Para said as he started his turn with a magic card. "Activate, **Premature Burial**." The strongest of the three Gate Guardian piece rose from the ground, completing the trinity once again. "Because Muka Muka is still on the field, without attacking, my turn will yield."

"I'm in a difficult position." Sakura whispered to herself. "They have three powerful monsters on the field and that stupid Labyrinth Wall further boasts their defenses. I cannot rely on Ryo to continue defending me. I must play my ultimate monster." As the young duelist placed her hopes on the next card, she drew. "I'll start by summoning the **Jurai Gumo (2200/100)** in attack mode, it is the same card that I won from Weevil Underwood. But I'll use it for tribute as I activate my Ultimate Offering trap card and summon my strongest monster: the **Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)**! Because I have a Dark Magician and two Magician of Black Chaos's in the graveyard, my monster's attack power grows to 2900!"

"But you still can't attack." Para informed.

"Correct, our effects are still intact." Dox confirmed.

"That's okay, I'll end my turn then." Sakura said, satisfied that she had managed to unleash her greatest monster.

"Brother, they have two strong monsters in their power." Para said to Dox.

"But to the Gate Guardian, they will both cower." Dox replied.

"You must draw the card we need."

"Indeed." Dox agreed as he started his turn. A wide grin appeared on his face as he drew his next card. "Hah! It is time now, brother." With that, the Paradox brothers leapt into the air, spinning as they chanted.

"Elements of water, thunder, and wind. Suijin, Sanga, Kazejin, begin!" They both shouted in harmony. "Meld your powers in eternal light, show these fools your unstoppable might!"

 As the two landed, Dox played the trump card into his duel disk, summoning one of the strongest duel monsters of all time. From the field, the three pieces turned into a bright light and combined into one giant creature of divinity.

The paradox shouted as the most powerful creature in their decks took form. "**Gate Guardian (3750/3400)**!"


	14. Double Duel II, Super Combo!

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 14: Double Duel II, Super Combo!

Ryo and Sakura couldn't help but stare at the ominous monster known as the Gate Guardian. Its body was pieced from three parts, Kazejin, Suijin, and Sanga of Thunder, each of them clearly visible and all of them menacing.

The Paradox brothers confidently laughed. "With Gate Guardian you shall surely lose." Para said.

"Now it is time for us to choose." Dox continued.

"The monster whose fate is cursed." They both said in unison. "For Gate Guardian shall destroy it first. And we pick. . ."

"The Dark Magician Girl!" Para shouted.

"Muka Muka!" Dox declared at the same time. The brothers then looked at each other in confusion. Their confusion turned to anger and frustration.

"The Dark Magician Girl has more attack points and should be wiped out." Para argued.

"Attacking Muka Muka would do more damage though without a doubt." Dox countered.

'They're arguing?' Sakura thought to herself as she watched the brothers quarrel amongst themselves. 'This might disrupt their teamwork and allow us to beat their Gate Guardian. I just hope Ryo has a good move coming up.'

"You will lose us the duel, brother. That, I cannot allow." Para said.

"The Gate Guardian is my monster, so attack Muka Muka now!" Dox ordered, unheeding his dueling partner. "Thunder Stroke attack!" The divine combination of three monsters unleashed a powerful storm attack upon Ryo's Muka Muka, wiping it from the field immediately and knocking Ryo off of his feet.

"Ryo!" Sakura shouted agonizingly. But her concerns were quickly washed away as the hyperactive duelist pushed himself back into a kneeling position. Suddenly, he began to chuckle.

"It's my turn now." Ryo said, still chuckling. He drew his card, which increased his life points by 500 and widened his grin. "I'll activate my facedown card now, **Call of the Haunted**, to bring back my Muka Muka in attack mode." The Muka Muka rose back onto the field in front of Ryo. "And I play the magic card, **Giant Trunade**! It returns all magic and trap cards back into their duelists' hands. And because my Call of the Haunted wasn't destroyed but rather returned, Muka Muka stays onto the field and holds an attack power of 3900!"

"Impossible! It'll destroy the Gate Guardian with one smash!" Para cried.

"Our Gate Guardian will be reduced to ash!" Dox bellowed in distress.

"That's true, but I don't plan on destroying your Gate Guardian and the Giant Trunade was just so I can clear up space in my magic/trap slots for my next cards." Ryo explained. He then turned to Sakura and gave her a thumbs up sign. "It's time to begin Ryo's Super Combo! First, I play the magic card, **Snatch Steal**! This allows me to gain full control of your Gate Guardian in exchange for you gaining 1000 life points each turn!"

"How can this be? Our monster will destroy us in one jolt!" Para shouted.

"Don't blame me, it wasn't my fault!" Dox defended with a similar worried look.

"Alright, Muka Muka." Ryo said as he pointed his finger towards Dox. "Lets do away with this annoying Labyrinth Wall, attack!" The giant rock monster quickly bulldozed through the complex stone walls that surrounded the duelists, clearing the way for a direct attack. "Now, Gate Guardian, direct attack on Para!" A familiar beam of energy fired onto the opposite side of the field, striking Para.

"Way to go, Ryo!" Sakura cheered. "This duel is ours!"

"I'll end my turn by replaying **Infinate Cards** and two cards face down." Ryo concluded as his Muka Muka dropped to an attack power of 2700.

----------

End of Turn 4

**Sakura**: 3900 (Dark Magician Girl in attack mode)

**Ryo**: 9150 (Muka Muka and Gate Guardian in attack mode, Snatch Steal, Infinite Cards, 2 cards face down)

**Para**: 3050 (nothing)

**Dox**: 5200 (nothing)

----------

"We are no match for the Gate Guardian's rage." Para said as he inserted a card into his duel disk. "So I play the card **Nightmare Steel Cage**."

"How annoying." Sakura muttered. "Now we can't attack for two turns."

"But our defenses still need to improve." Para concluded. "So I summon a monster in defense mode and end my move."

"I'll start my turn, then." Sakura said, drawing a card. "I'll set a monster face down in defense mode and that will be all. It's your move, Dox."

"Not yet." Ryo interrupted. "Before Dox takes his turn, I will activate my two face down cards and continue my super combo! **The Eye of Truth** and **Bad Reaction to Simochi**!"

"Huh?" Sakura asked with a quizzical look at her partner. "What do those trap cards do?"

"The Eye of Truth allows us to see our opponents' hands at the risk of having them gain 1000 life points if they hold a magic card in their hand." Ryo explained. "But that's okay because Bad Reaction to Simochi's effect is that whenever the opponent gains life points, this trap will activate and reduce their life points instead."

'I see.' Sakura thought to herself. 'Incredible. That trap card converts a negative effect into a positive one. Furthermore, because this combo of trap and magic cards is difficult to obtain in your hand at one point in time, Ryo uses a deck that allows him to draw a lot of cards. He uses Muka Muka as a front to lead the opponent away from his true strategy so he can catch them off guard. He really is a super duelist.'

"So before you take your turn, show us your hand." Ryo told the Paradox brothers. The two grunted as they revealed their cards, which consisted of weaker monsters such as Mystic Tomato, Shining Angel, and other monsters that would special summon more monsters onto the field obviously used for tribute for the Gate Guardian pieces. Other cards followed the labyrinth theme such as Wall Shadow and Magical Labyrinth.

"You have a Magical Labyrinth magic card in your hand, so you lose 1000 life points thanks to my two trap cards." Ryo pointed out to Dox. "And my Snatch Steal forces you to gain, or actually lose, another 1000 life points."

Dox gritted his teeth. "Protecting my life points further, hence, I play a monster in defense." His two opponents watched as he played his Mystic Tomato in defense mode. They also watched him set his Magical Labyrinth down onto the field to rid his hand of magic cards in fear of losing additional life points.

"My turn." Ryo said as he drew his next card. "I play **Upstart Goblin**. It allows me to draw one card at the cost of my opponent gaining 1000 life points, so you two lose another 1000 life points." The Paradox brothers winced in fear as they watched their life points count drop.

Sakura stared at Ryo in awe. Never had she seen such an effective use of a single trap card. 'Is this really the same person that idiotically enters and leaves houses through windows?' She thought to herself. 'He's so deceptively strong.'

"I'll end my turn for now, but next turn you're finished!" Ryo shouted.

----------

End of Turn 5

**Sakura**: 3900 (Dark Magician Girl in attack mode, 1 monster face down in defense mode)

**Ryo**: 9150 (Muka Muka and Gate Guardian in attack mode, Snatch Steal, Infinite Cards, Eye of Truth, Bad Reaction to Simochi)

**Para**: 2050 (Nightmare Steel Cage, 1 monster face down in defense mode)

**Dox**: 2200 (Mystic Tomato face down in defense mode, Magical Labyrinth face down)

----------

"Brother." Dox said to his counterpart. "Our chances of winning are small."

"True." Para concurred as he drew his card. "But this magic card can win it all."

"A magic card?" Ryo said with a giant smirk. "That means my Eye of Truth and Bad Reaction to Simochi makes you lose another 1000 life points."

"Correct, due to the combo that your cards form." Para said. "But I shall now blow all of it away with **Heavy Storm**!"

"My super combo!" Ryo cried as all of his magic and trap cards went to the graveyard. 

"Oh no!" Sakura gasped. "Heavy Storm destroys all magic and trap cards on the field! That means not only is the combo destroyed, but Dox also gains control of the Gate Guardian again."

"I also tribute my monster for another in defense and my turn ends here." Para concluded. "But with Gate Guardian on our side, the end is near."

Sakura looked at her cards on the field. 'I have only one card that can turn this duel around. I hope I draw it.' She closed her eyes as she removed the top card from her deck. She peeked at the card she just drew, hoping it was the one she needed.

A grin grew onto her face.

"You're right about one thing." The female duelist said to her bald opponents. "The end is near. First I summon my **Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050)** in attack mode. Now you guys get to watch a little combo of my own. I flip my defense card face up. Go **Ameba (300/350)**!"

"But Ameba is weak." Ryo whispered to himself. "It's no match for the Gate Guardian."

"Ameba may seem useless." Sakura said. "But its special ability is what makes it powerful. When the Ameba turns its control to my opponents, they lose 2000 life points. So that's why I now play the magic card, **Mystic Box**!"

The Paradox brothers had once seen the powerful effects of this magic card from their previous duel with Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler. They watched as two boxes materialized onto the field, one next to the Ameba and the other surrounding the Gate Guardian. As the two monsters were inserted into the Mystic Boxes, swords appeared around the one that housed the Ameba and skewered it instantaneously. But as the doors of the box reopened, the skewered card revealed itself to be the Gate Guardian as the Ameba popped out the other side unharmed.

"The Gate Guardian!" Both brothers screamed.

"Totally destroyed." Sakura said. "But that's not all, Ameba is now Dox's monster so its special effect activates and deals 2000 damage to him. Furthermore, it creates a pathway to his life points. Now, Dark Magician Girl, attack Dox's Ameba and take him out of this game!" The Dark Magician Girl flew straight at the weak monster and unleashed her attack, destroying the Ameba and reducing Dox's life point count to zero. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, Para. Dunames Dark Witch, attack his face down monster!" Now it was the Dark Witch's turn to attack, which destroyed Para's face down Monster Tamer with no problem.

"Impossible!" Para shouted. "How could this be?"

"We were inches away from victory." Dox said in distress.

"My turn is over." Sakura concluded. "And so is this duel. Take him out Ryo!"

"With pleasure." Ryo replied. "Because Dox lost already, it's my turn. Muka Muka, attack Para directly!"

"No!" Para screamed as Ryo's monster struck him with its rocky claws, ending the duel. As Para's life points hit zero, the four sets of holographic projectors retreated to the duel disks. Sakura and Ryo walked over to the two brothers, who were kneeling in defeat.

"You two lost the duel, so hand over your decks." Sakura demanded.

"Rules are rules." Ryo continued. "Even super crazy ones like yours can't be ignored.

"He is right brother." Para said as he handed his deck over. "We must do as they say."

"Indeed." Dox conformed as he too gave his deck to his two opponents. "Our master will make us pay."

"And to these two fine duelists of few, we bid both of you adieu." The Paradox brothers said as they flipped into the darkness, disappearing from their opponents' sights.

"Well, I take back what I said." Sakura said as she turned towards Ryo. "You're not a bad duelist. Not bad at all."

"Thanks." Ryo said, blushing a bit as he scratched the back of his head. "And that was super fun. I spend a lot of time working on my strategy and it's exciting to finally be able to show it to people."

"Yeah." Sakura agreed. "I think you might be strong enough to give Yugi a good challenge. So how about it, want to go find Yugi and Joey?"

Ryo nodded as he flashed another smile at the female duelist. The two quickly ran off into the city in search for their friends.

----------

Elsewhere.

Three figures stood in front of a large building complex, all of them wearing duel disks on their arms. One of them had large signature spiky hair, accompanied by his tall blonde friend and another man who wore a large white trench coat.

"Are you sure this is where they are hiding?" Joey asked.

"Of course. My satellites and computer spy ware never fail me." Kaiba replied. "This is definitely where the Dark Monarchs are using as their headquarters."

"Thanks for your help, Kaiba." Yugi said.

"Don't misunderstand me, Yugi." Kaiba coldly scoffed. "I'm only here because you said these Dark Monarchs had the Egyptian god cards. The sole purpose of my being here is not to help you, but to get Obelisk the Tormentor back. Helping you was just a convenience to do so."

"Yeah, suck it up Kaiba." Joey said. "Let's just go in there and kick some ass."

Little did the three know, they were being watched as they entered the building complex. Another three figures watched the surveillance cameras as they prepared their own duel disks.

"It would seem that the pharaoh has brought himself to me." Sebek, the master of the Dark Monarchs, said. "It saves me the trouble of having to find him."

"He has brought reinforcements." Nagisa noted as he dimmed his eyes on Kaiba. "More duelists to defeat, more blood to spill."

"This will be too easy." Sebek smirked as he held his deck in front of himself. The two figures also took their decks into their hand. The three decks lay before their respective owners that held power unimaginable, each carrying an Egyptian god card.


	15. Light of the Blue Eyes

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 15: Light of the Blue Eyes

Elsewhere.

"What is this place?" Yugi asked as he surveyed his surroundings. Only moments ago, he, along with Joey and Seto Kaiba, had entered what looked like a simple skyscraper, one not too different from that of KaibaCorp Headquarters. However, as they entered, they found themselves in a series of carpeted hallways that seemed to lead up and down endless flights of stairs, ultimately leading nowhere.

"This building doesn't seem to have any rooms, just a set of complex hallways and stairs." Kaiba noted. "It could be very easy to get lost here."

"We're already lost." Joey complained as he looked around him. All he saw were walls, corridors, and more stairs.

"I just hope we don't get separated." Yugi said as the three walked up another flight of stairs. "There aren't any windows, and these stairways are only very dimly lit."

"I see something." Kaiba suddenly whispered as he completed the flight of stairs and turned to the end of another hallway. All he saw was a door at the end of a very dimly lit corridor. Instinctively, he walked towards it, increasing his pace.

"Wait!" Yugi called out. "We need to stick together!"

However, Kaiba ignored Yugi's advice as he ran into the dark hallway. Suddenly, the lights disappeared, covering his eyes with darkness. As Kaiba looked around, all he could see was a curtain of shade. "What happened to the lights?" He shouted. "Yugi? Joey? Where did you two go?"

The lights then returned just as sudden as they went out. Kaiba winced as his eyes adjusted to the new light. As his vision returned, he found himself in a room instead of the corridor that he had just been in. The room was quite dark despite the lights that had just turned on, though another figure could be dimly seen across from Kaiba.

"Who's there?" Kaiba demanded to the dark figure. "How did I get here?"

The figure gave no answer. Instead, reached into his other arm, which seemed have a large device attached to it. He then held up one card, a card very familiar to Kaiba. "This is what you seek?" The dark figure whispered, just loud enough for Kaiba to hear.

"That's. . ." Kaiba stuttered in shock as he immediately recognized the card. "Obelisk the Tormentor!"

---------

Elsewhere.

Two more dark figures watched as the monitor in front of them labeled "Room 906" displayed the room Kaiba was in.

"Do not take too much time defeating him, my servant." The first dark figure, Sebek, said as he let out a small chuckle. He turned to another monitor that focused on Yugi and Joey's locations. "We have two more guests to entertain."

"Be careful, Nagisa-sama." The masked boy behind the dark figure whispered.

----------

Half a city away.

'Yugi would have found the headquarters by now.' Shin thought to himself as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. 'Sebek is more than prepared to take on the pharaoh and will probably defeat him in a duel. But he also knows that the girl is trying to find Yugi, and he fears that she will interfere with his plans. He will probably send his servants to defeat Sakura before she can interfere. I must find her before the Dark Monarch servants do.'

In truth, he was not as worried about Sakura as he was about Yugi. He knew that if Yugi were to enter the Dark Monarch headquarters, he would be challenged with fighting the most dangerous duelists in the clan. Still, even the lesser servants who would be sent to defeat Sakura may prove trouble and would need to be dealt with first. With those thoughts, he quickened his pace across the city in search for the girl.

----------

Room 906.

"Who are you?" Kaiba asked. "How do you have Obelisk the Tormentor?"

"You're noisy." The dark figure said. "All you need to know is that if you want to be in the possession of Obelisk the Tormentor again, you'll have to duel me for it."

"How foolish do you think I am?" Kaiba scoffed. "There's no way I can defeat Obelisk the Tormentor, even if I use all three of my Blue Eyes White Dragons. The only way I would duel you is if you take Obelisk out of your deck, and we duel for our rarest cards. If I win, you hand me Obelisk. And if you win, I will forfeit my pride, the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

"I agree to your terms." Nagisa said as he threw the Obelisk god card onto the floor in front of him. "This will be entertaining. You had better prove worthy of challenge."

"I was once the world champion of Duel Monsters!" Kaiba shouted as he strapped his duel disk on his arm. "Don't underestimate me! Let's duel!"

**Kaiba**: 8000

**Nagisa**: 8000

"First move is mine." Kaiba announced as he removed six cards from his deck. "First I'll summon the **Spear Dragon (1900/0)** in attack mode! I'll set a card face down to end my turn."

"I will set a monster in defense mode and set two face down cards." Nagisa said. "This ends my turn."

Kaiba started to confidently chuckle out loud. "A serious duelist like you surely knows the effect of my Spear Dragon, and yet you still play a monster in defense? Are you hoping to spring one of your face down trap cards when I attack?" Kaiba mocked as he played a card onto his duel disk. "Well tough luck. I summon **Lord of Dragon (1200/1100)** in attack mode! It has the ability to protect all dragons from traps, spells, and effects."

A small grin appeared on Nagisa's face, invisible to Kaiba.

"Now I have no fear of destroying your face down monster." Kaiba continued. "Spear Dragon, attack!" The long headed dragon unleashed its piercing attack, but it seemed to have no effect on the face down card. Instead, as the attack finished, Kaiba watched in confusion as his life points dropped by 100.

"No fear?" Nagisa mocked as he revealed his face down monster. "My set monster was **Aqua Madoor (1200/2000)**. Its defenses are strong enough to repel your dragon's attack. In addition, you lose 100 life points for such a foolish attempt to destroy my monster."

Kaiba gritted his teeth in frustration. "Fine, then I will end my turn."

"I will start my turn by playing this magic card that I had just drawn." Nagisa informed as he inserted a card into the side slot of his duel disk. "Activate field card, **Legendary Ocean**. Do you know the powerful effects of this field card?"

Kaiba watched as the Aqua Madoor across from him raise its attack and defense points by 200 each. "Big deal, so your water monster gets a small bonus of attack and defense points." He scoffed. "That's hardly what I would call a powerful effect."

"Whereas it is true that it raises my monsters' attack and defense points, but it has another advantage." Nagisa explained. "As long as Legendary Ocean is on the field, all water monsters are treated as one level lower than they are. That means I can summon my **Suijin**** (2500/2400)** for one tribute instead of its usual two." With that said, Nagisa played his divine water monster as he discarded his Aqua Madoor as tribute. The powerful creature of water instantly took advantage of the field card and raised its attack power to 2700.

Kaiba's mouth gaped as he witnessed the fearsome monster take form onto the field. "This can't be!" Kaiba gasped. "He's summoned a powerful monster so early in the game!"

"Suijin, attack his Lord of Dragon!" Nagisa ordered. Suijin prepared to attack, but suddenly stopped.

"That might work against amateurs, but don't think that I didn't prepare to defend my Lord of Dragon from attacks." Kaiba said confidently as he pressed a button on his duel disk. "I activate my trap card, **Ring of Destruction**, to destroy your monster before it can eliminate mine." A giant ring strapped itself onto Suijin's head and exploded, instantly reducing the powerful water monster to pieces.

**Kaiba**: 5200

**Nagisa**: 5300

"Very well countered." Nagisa complimented. "I end my turn by activating my face down card, **Tornado Wall**. It will protect me as long as I have the Legendary Ocean on the field."

_'If it wasn't for his Tornado Wall, his life points would be wide open for an attack!'_ Seto observed. His mouth formed a smirk _'But I have the perfect method to take down that trap card.'_ His smile greatly widened as he noticed what card he had just drawn.

"Your Tornado Wall won't protect you anymore." Kaiba crackled. "I'll play the field magic card, **Fusion Gate**! It will replace your Legendary Ocean card, sending it and your Tornado Wall to the graveyard. Now I'll sacrifice my two monsters before me to summon the creature of your destruction, the legendary **Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)**!"

The supreme white plated dragon roared as it made its appearance to the field. The blue eyes of the dragon surged with power and brilliance. Kaiba laughed confidently as his favorite monster took form.

"That's not all." Kaiba continued, as he presented another card onto the field. "I'll send this **Thunder Dragon** from my hand to the graveyard, activating its special effect which allows me to place two more Thunder Dragons into my hand. And I'll activate the Fusion Gate I've played to fuse these two Thunder Dragons together, to form the **Twin Headed Thunder Dragon (2800/2100)**! Now my two dragons, attack and destroy his life points!"

"Marvelous." Nagisa whispered as the two dragons closed in on him. "Simply marvelous, but I cannot be defeated that easily. I'll activate my second face down card, **Gravity Bind**! It will stop all your high leveled monsters from attacking me."

Kaiba frowned as his two dragons stopped their attacks and returned to their positions in front of him, unable to attack. "I'll end my turn by placing one more face down card onto the field."

_'No trap card will stop my dragons from crushing him.'_ Kaiba thought to himself. _'All I need to do is draw a card that will dispose of his trap, summon my ultimate dragon, and destroy him. I already have the second Blue Eyes in my hand. It'll only be a matter of turns before I win.'_

"I will set one monster face down in defense and end my turn." Nagisa declared as a holographic card appeared onto the field.

"Good, then I'll draw." Kaiba said, taking a card from the top of his deck. "I'll play **Pot of Greed** so I may draw two more cards." As Kaiba drew his two additional cards, his eyes widened and his smile turned into a roaring laugh of confidence. "It's time to introduce you to the one of the most powerful creatures of all of duel monsters, second only to the god cards. I activate fusion gate to combine the Blue Eyes White Dragon that I have on the field and the two that I have in my hand to summon the dragon of your destruction. Go, my **Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)**!"

The three headed supreme dragon appeared onto the field in front of Kaiba as he let out another roar of laughter. But Nagisa was not at all intimidated. Kaiba noticed this and realized why.

"I still cannot attack with my ultimate dragon, so I'll end my turn." Kaiba continued. "But trust me; your trap card will not protect you for long."

Still Nagisa was not intimidated by Kaiba's boasts. Instead, his mouth formed a grin of his own. "Big words for a man who's about to be shivering in fear."

"Are you insane? I definitely have the advantage here." Kaiba confidently replied.

"Well then." Nagisa whispered. "I'll have to change that won't I? I summon another face down monster in defense and reveal my first face down monster to set him in attack mode. **Tribe-Infecting Virus (1600/1000)**." The holographic card flipped over, but nothing visible appeared above it.

"Where's your monster?" Kaiba asked. "I don't see anything."

"My monster is an aqua virus, too small to be seen by human eyes." Nagisa explained. "My virus has a very special effect. Observe as I discard a card from my hand to activate it." He placed a card from his hand to the graveyard. "First I discard the **Sinister Serpent**, it will return to my hand the next turn because of its own special effect anyways. Now, my virus, target all dragon type monsters!"

"What?" Kaiba gasped. Suddenly, both his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and his Twin Headed Thunder Dragon began to turn a very light teal color. The two dragons' plated skin began to decay, as both monsters eventually fell to the ground and dissipated. "My dragons!"

"The Tribe-Infecting Virus has the ability to clean the field of any one type of monster; in this case, dragons." Nagisa continued explaining. "So much for your ultimate dragon, along with the rest of your dragon type monsters."

"No!" Kaiba cried as his monsters disappeared. "My Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! How could I have lost my most powerful monsters in one turn?"

"I'm not done yet!" Nagisa shouted as he played a card onto his field slot. "It is good that I keep another one of these in my deck. Behold, as I bring **The** **Legendary Ocean** onto the field once more. Now that my Tribe-Infecting Virus's level was brought down to three, I can directly attack your life points with it. Tribe-Infecting Virus, attack Kaiba's life points directly!"

Kaiba gasped as his duel disk was also covered by the light teal virus as the life point counter dropped by 1800.

**Kaiba**: 3400

**Nagisa**: 5300

"Ugh." Kaiba grunted as he drew his card. "I'm far from finished. I play the magic card, **Monster Reborn**, to revive one of my Blue Eyes White Dragons! Your virus may have a powerful effect, but its attack points are pathetic compared to my Blue Eyes. And I haven't forgotten about your trap card." Kaiba then inserted another magic card onto his duel disk. "I play **Stamping Destruction**, a magic card that allows one of my dragons to destroy a trap or magic card on the field and cause 500 damage to your life points. So I target your Gravity Bind!" As he activated the magic card's effect, the Blue Eyes White Dragon flew into the air and landed on top of the Gravity Bind trap card, destroying it with its giant feet.

"Now, my Blue Eyes White Dragon," Kaiba continued. "Attack his Tribe-Infecting Virus with your white lightning attack!" A powerful blast of white energy formed from the mouth of the enormous dragon and streamed past Nagisa's monster, incinerating the virus. "With Blue Eyes back onto the field, this duel is mine!"

**Kaiba**: 3400

**Nagisa**: 3600

Nagisa scoffed, then let out a sinister but very subtle laugh. "That was your last turn." He informed. "I'll flip over my other face down card now, **Jowls of Dark Demise (200/100)**, another one of my aqua monsters with a powerful effect."

"What effect is it?" Kaiba asked. As if to answer his question, the Blue Eyes White Dragon suddenly left its position in front of Kaiba to join the ranks of Nagisa's monsters. "Wait! Where is my Blue Eyes going?"

"Once flipped over, the Jowls of Dark Demise can control any one of my opponent's monsters for one turn." Nagisa explained. "And I chose to take control of your Blue Eyes White Dragon. Now I'll tribute my Jowls of Dark Demise to summon the **Catapult Turtle (1000/2000)** and enter the battle phase."

_'How could my Blue Eyes turn on me?'_ The stunned duelist thought. _'I have no monsters to protect my life points. This is impossible!'_

"Blue Eyes White Dragon, white lightning attack!" Nagisa ordered as he let out another sinister roar. Again the white energy formed in the dragon's mouth, but this time it directed itself towards its original owner. "And to finish you off, I'll have Catapult Turtle launch your dragon directly at your life points for direct damage!" The Blue Eyes White Dragon set itself on top of the Catapult Turtle, which hurled it at Kaiba. Too stunned to move, Kaiba took the full blast of Nagisa's assault, shocked that his life points had been reduced to zero.

**Kaiba**: 0

**Nagisa**: 3600

"I've… lost…" Kaiba stuttered as he dropped his dueling deck onto the floor. "My ultimate dragon… lost."

"So much for the ex-champion of duel monsters." Nagisa scoffed as he picked up the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon card from Kaiba's scattered deck "How fitting that the one and only Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon card would be kept by the man with all three Blue Eyes White Dragons. But it is mine now, and I certainly have no use of it."

"What… What are you… going to do… with it?" Kaiba stammered as his knees fell to the floor.

Nagisa chuckled. "I'm so glad that I could do this in front of you, Seto Kaiba." He said as he ripped the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon card into pieces.


End file.
